Innocence
by stuckinimagination
Summary: Dark AU. There was a series of murder hitting Namimori, the town of unexpected relics, which turned the town upside down. Sawada Tsunayoshi won first prize in the town's essay competition and was chosen by the head of the police force's Intelligence Unit to help break the case.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I am simply borrowing the characters for this story. This fanfic will be as original as it can be. Similarities with other fanfics are not intended. The story is not related to any real story and similarities are simply coincidence. Reference to real life places are just to set the setting. This is strictly a work of fiction.**

 **Warning: Dark theme and OOC-ness. This fic also contains hints of bendable morals which might not be comfortable for some people.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

 _-BREAKING NEWS-_

" _Kimura Hanako was reported missing just a few weeks ago. Last night, her body was_

 _found under the Namimori bridge. A representive of the police, Inspector Ugetsu, told the conference_

 _that it is currently too early to conclude that this case is related to the_

 _other four murders. There is nothing about the murder that indicates that this is the_

 _work of the same individual. For more details, please stay tune for the 9 o'clock news."_

* * *

A piece of flyer was shoved under the door of the Sawada household, alerting the only son of the family who was tying up his shoes readying to go out. A tanned hand grabbed the piece of paper from where it was stuck.

 _"Welcome to Namimori, the town of unexpected relics."_

The brown-haired male groaned when he saw that it was only the tourist flyer from the town council. He did not know why they still bothered sending these flyers to his house when it had already been almost twelve years since they moved to Namimori.

The first time he came to the city with his parents was when he was ten years old. He had always wondered what made his father chose this barely known town to move to from the big city. For one, there was nothing special about the place. From what little he had heard about Namimori was about its still dense forest, still untouched by the dawn of civilization. Ironically, despite the fact that it was still mostly in its natural state, Tsuna found a lot of abandoned buildings in the area.

The people who ruled the town, the Arcobalenos, were strange, in his opinion. He had never really met them but recently, he had been receiving invitations to formal events like a private council meeting or to informal ones like a hi-tea or a soiree. This started only three years ago. Judging from how his father was rarely home, he doubted that his father had finally frequented the council's public meetings and somehow got him invited to their private events. His father might always thirst for any actions for goodwill but he would never do it through a very political method.

They used to barely acknowledge the Sawada family's existence. There had been a couple of letters addressed to them detailing the formalities update on the council that everyone else in town received every year but that was it.

He felt like the flyer might as well be a beacon demanding for their attention. Without a care, he crumpled the piece of paper and threw it into the bin near the entrance to his place.

Tilting his head to the side, he called out, "Okaa-san, I'm going now!"

He waited a bit and at the lack of reply, a fond smile came to his face.

* * *

"Tsuna!" A tall male shouted just as he was about to enter the entrance to the lecture building. The male nudged him hard on his side causing a pained 'oof' to escape his mouth. "Where were you this morning? There was a mandatory talk by the town council."

"Yamamoto-kun," Tsuna greeted with a pained smile while rubbing his side in a useless attempt to erase the pain. His friend did not realize his own strength sometimes. "I had my shift moved to early this morning, remember?" They both settled to stand just in front of the building, as far as possible from the door so as not to disturb the other students.

Yamamoto's warm brown eyes sported a quizzical look, prompting Tsuna to continue.

"I asked you to take over my shift yesterday but you said you already exchanged your shift with someone else for the evening. So I asked Ryohei-niisan to take over my shift for me and I took his."

"Oh yeah," Yamamoto laughed. "I totally forgot about that, haha. I've been forgetful lately. Must be the stress."

Tsuna just chuckled. "Yeah. Must be."

"So, about the talk. Apparently there've been a lot of murders lately," Yamamoto filled him in. "The victims are mostly people our age, if not younger. It was just a talk to make sure that we will always keep ourselves safe though and to make sure to not walk alone at night. They're just repeating what they had said on TV, basically. I wonder though," Yamamoto brought his forefinger and folded it over his lips in a thinking pose. At the sight of the brunet's polite attention, he shook his head. "Never mind, Tsuna. You might be rushing to class right now."

"I don't mind listening, Yamamoto-kun," Tsuna checked his watch. "I still have twenty minutes to spare, anyway. What were you going to say?"

"It's just… Few years ago, the Superintendant pointed out that the murders happening in Tokyo were decreasing just as the one in Shimbashi increased. And then the incidents moved to Shibuya and just last year the same thing happened around Ikeno-ue. Now, it's happening in Namimori. He said that there is a certain direction that the increase in crime-rate is heading, district-wise."

"Maa, Yamamoto-kun. I did not know that you keep tabs on crime news," Tsuna commented with an impressed tone.

"Haha, Oyaji has always been interested in that area. It's an accidental knowledge on my part. But what do you think, Tsuna?" Yamamoto looked at him earnestly, his arms falling to his sides. "You're the Criminology major here Tsuna. You must have an opinion about this."

Tsuna's easy smile strained at Yamamoto's words. "I might be a Criminology major, Yamamoto-kun, but that doesn't mean that every crime demands my opinion." A guilty expression appeared on Yamamoto's face so Tsuna decided to humour him. "But if I must say, spikes in crime rates in different areas at different time are not indicator of a trend. Despite the fact that the rail lines between all districts are connected, it's too vague of a factor to take into consideration. In my opinion, it's the nature of the victims or the killing itself that we must focus on. So if what you were indicating is that the direction indicated a sole murderer terrorizing a certain district for a certain time, then I guess I can't agree with you."

A slow grin came to Yamamoto's face. "As expected of the best Criminology student."

Tsuna prided himself in being observant. He did not miss the bitter undertone in Yamamoto's praise. Before Tsuna could ask what the matter with him was, there was a hand on Tsuna's shoulder causing him to tense and clammed up. He slowly turned to look at whoever it was only to find a blonde-haired man who looked eerily similar to him. The man had an easy smile on his face but Tsuna knew not to take things at face value. The man let go of Tsuna's shoulder and Tsuna did an once-over.

The man was decidedly taller than him and if he did not look positively foreign what was with his blonde hair and orange eyes, he could have passed off as Tsuna's older brother. He had on the usual dark blue uniform of the police. Despite the easy smile, there was an overwhelming air of confidence surrounding the man and his eyes held a certain depth that Tsuna could not pinpoint. His presence itself demanded authority and respect. Tsuna's eyes moved to his left breast only to see a gold-wreathed silver emblem with three gold bars.

"Superintendent Giotto," Yamamoto greeted, confirming Tsuna's thoughts of the man's rank. They both instinctively straightened their back at the sight of the high-ranking officer.

The Superintendent nodded at Yamamoto in greeting before turning to Tsuna. "Are you Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

Yamamoto was about to answer for his friend but Tsuna beat him to it. Tsuna gave the man a bright smile. "I'm sorry, but I'm not Sawada Tsunayoshi."

* * *

Tsuna reckoned lying to the police Superintendent might be a very bad move considering where his Degree was headed. As if his thought was not enough of a reality check, he heard his phone vibrated against the table.

Glancing at the front to make sure that the lecturer was not looking at him lest he would get into trouble, Tsuna discreetly grabbed his phone and brought it under the makeshift table.

 _I don't think lying to the Superintendent will bring you any favour, Tsuna – Yamamoto_

Tsuna frowned at the text. He ignored the fact that Yamamoto was voicing exactly what he was thinking. He furiously typed back.

 _You know exactly why I don't want him to know who I am – Tsuna_

Tsuna placed his phone back on the table. There were a couple of vibrations not long after. The person sitting next to Tsuna was visibly getting annoyed by the sound if the not-so-subtle stink eye he was getting was any indication. He only gave the girl a sheepish smile and a muttered apology.

He decided to focus on the lecture for the next few minutes. When he felt his eyes drooping at the lull of the lecturer's voice, he checked his phone again.

 _Maa, you entered the competition and they wanted their winner. Don't blame them for wanting 'their' reward. Haha, you must have made quite an impression with your essay. – Yamamoto_

 _I did it for the extra credits, not to get an attachment at their Investigation Unit. Speaking of which, aren't you supposed to be training right now? – Tsuna_

 _Training is cancelled. Just saying but I think you're crazy for letting that chance go. I hope you have a good enough reason to decline the opportunity. – Yamamoto_

Tsuna felt a bitter smile crept up his face. He did, but he did not bother replying.

* * *

Giotto flopped down on his seat in a less than graceful manner. He leaned back with his eyes closed on his reclining chair which looked so out of place in the shared workstation. He felt someone approaching his table and with a resigned sigh, he squinted at the person without moving. "What?" he tiredly demanded.

The male in front of him had platinum blond hair and ice blue eyes. There was disapproval in his eyes at how Giotto was sitting. "Did you find the little animal?"

"He would be here if I did," Giotto closed his eyes. "Why don't we just go and choose someone else, Alaude?" He sat up. "It has been months and we really need some fresh mind right here. We're reaching a stalemate now."

The man named Alaude's lips turned downward into a miniscule frown. "No. We need him."

Giotto supported his head on an arm on the table. "I get why you want Sawada Tsunayoshi. His theory is brilliant. His approach to things is different. But I'm sure the runner-up is good enough as well."

Giotto did not even flinch at the menacing glare that he received.

He shook his head and sighed, folding his arms over the table. "Okay, I understand where you're heading with this. Good enough may not be enough at this point and unfortunately, I agree with you."

"Hn."

"I actually thought I saw someone who could be him earlier," Giotto admitted. "I overheard this conversation between these two students about the recent murders and this one student was making a valid point in a similar approach Sawada Tsunayoshi did. But when I asked, he said he was not Sawada Tsunayoshi."

"Baka Giotto," a deep voice butted into their conversation. "With the way he's been ignoring our invitations of course he's not going to just say yes to a direct question like that."

Giotto held back a groan at the appearance of the newcomer. "Reborn," he greeted.

"Chaos," Reborn smirked, lifting his fedora a bit.

* * *

"Okaa-san, dinner's ready!" Tsuna announced warmly, bringing a bowl of freshly-made chicken porridge onto the table of four. He set the bowl away from the figure sitting on one of the seats on the table and instead placed it in front of the seat he chose to sit on. He grabbed the remote on the table and turned on the flat screen.

" _Earlier today, the Superintendent conducted a talk in Namimori University. During the talk, he addressed the recent murder and missing person cases that are currently on the rise here in Namimori."_

"Oh, look, kaa-san! It's the talk I told you I missed this morning." He brought a spoonful of porridge to his mouth and with a mouthful, he pondered. "So that's what the talk was about."

 _"The Superintendent advised everyone to not be alone in quiet areas. He said to walk at least in pairs. He emphasized that this also applies to the males as the victims of the recent cases are not gender-specified."_

Tsuna sighed. "The world is a scary place, isn't it, Okaa-san? No one knows what people are thinking nowadays."

 _"Now moving on to the next news..."_

"Oh, before I forget, Okaa-san," Tsuna paused eating and a frown came to his face, "It seems that Yamamoto-kun is bitter about something. I don't know yet but I plan to find out about it. What do you think, Okaa-san?" He turned to her. At the sight of her closed eyes, he shook his head fondly. "Oh Okaa-san, you must be very tired."

There was a bell ringing before the front door was being open. Tsuna recognized the sequence. There was no one else who would enter his home after ringing the bell without any second thought. A wide grin appeared on his face. He heard the confident footsteps heading to the kitchen but paid no mind to it.

He only lifted his head in greeting when a silhouette of the newcomer appeared. He saw one foot entering the living room first. His eyes followed the dirtied green length of the pants upwards until a very familiar smirk greeted him. He met the smirking man's heterochromatic eyes.

Without missing a beat, he pointed out, "You don't look so neat today. Bad day?"

The odd-eyed male went to join Tsuna on the table, his eyes briefly acknowledged the female sitting beside the brunet. He chose to sit across Tsuna. He pulled Tsuna's bowl towards him and challenged the brunet with a look as if to dare him voice out his discontent of having his food stolen.

Tsuna just gave him an amused look.

"I'm going to spend a couple of days here, Tsunayoshi-kun," the man said more than announced as if he was simply saying the sky was blue. "A group of enforcers came to my hideout. They're really just checking things but I rather they don't know that I live there."

Tsuna sighed. He let the male ate his dinner without much of a fight. He placed an arm on the table and used his palm to support his chin. "I suspected as much. The most recent murder seems to put them on edge if the sudden increases in public safety talks are any indication. One question though, Mukuro," Tsuna's eyes narrowed. "It's not you, is it?"

Tsuna was a bit disappointed that the other man did not choke on his food.

"Kufufu, oya oya, Tsunayoshi-kun. I can't believe you can just accuse me like that." His dual coloured eyes narrowed but Tsuna was not intimidated. "Rest assured. It is not my doing. I'm sure you already know though."

Tsuna smiled good-naturedlyly. "Just checking, Mukuro." Tsuna reached for the spoon that Mukuro abandoned and grabbed himself a spoonful. Mukuro pushed the bowl to the middle of the table earning a thankful look from Tsuna. "You know, I think they're still trying to recruit me. Just today, the Superintendent asked if I was Sawada Tsunayoshi."

Mukuro grinned, a gleam appeared in his eyes. "Oya?"

"I sort of panicked and denied it."

"Kufufufu, smooth, Tsunayoshi-kun."

"You can't blame me now, could you?"

Mukuro glanced at the other figure sitting with them and then at the family picture hanging on the wall behind her. He did not need to take a long look to know that the woman in the picture looked nothing like the female sitting with them. While the women had pale skin, brown hair and brown eyes, the female's skin was ashen completely in contrast with her auburn red hair. Her eyes were closed but Mukuro knew that she had similar warm brown eyes beneath her closed eyelids.

A conspiratorial smile appeared on his face as he met the brunet's eyes.

"No, I can't blame you."

* * *

 **AN: I made a new fic. Enough said. And yes, lazy summary on my part.**

 **Please do leave a review on your way out!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I am simply borrowing the characters for this story. This fanfic will be as original as it can be. Similarities with other fanfics are not intended. The story is not related to any real story and similarities are simply coincidence. Reference to real life places are just to set the setting. This is strictly a work of fiction.**

 **Warning: Dark theme and OOC-ness. This fic also contains hints of bendable morals which might not be comfortable for some people. Rated for theme and languages.**

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Mukuro was sipping on his coffee when he heard the brunet announcing his arrival into the house. It did not take too long for the brunet to enter the living area. He was sporting a dark blue hoodie that was bordering on black with barely any design on it. His light blue jeans were covered with dirt and what look like splashes of mud.

"Oya, Tsunayoshi-kun. Having a rough day?" He made an obvious eye gesture to the end of Tsuna's jeans. "You don't look so neat," he threw back Tsuna's words when he came to the house just last night. "Got splashed by a car?"

The brunet chuckled. He grabbed a glass as soon as he entered the kitchen and filled it with tap water. "Good morning, Mukuro. I was hoping that you were able to join my morning run earlier."

"Kufufu. Apologies, Tsunayoshi-kun. I needed a good night sleep after what happened yesterday." He did not bother pointing out no one would go on a morning run in jeans.

"I'm sure you do," Tsuna went to wash the glass and proceeded to dry it. "My class is starting in a bit so I have to get ready. I would stay here with you if I can but we have a guest lecturer coming today. You have anything planned for today?"

Mukuro smirked. "Curious, Tsunayoshi-kun?" At the sight of the brunet's incredulous expression, he could not help but laugh. "Kuhaha. Really though, it's so unlike you to open a polite conversation."

"Sorry," Tsuna apologized, running a hand over his hair which Mukuro now realized was wet. "I'm just a bit on edge."

"I'm sure you did a good job."

The brunet looked at him momentarily before smiling fondly. He could see what the other male was thinking so clearly on his face. Trust him to know exactly what was bothering him.

"I know I did."

* * *

Namimori might be located just a few train stops away from Shibuya but it was almost an invisible town. It barely had any attraction especially in comparison with the bigger cities around it. There was almost nowhere to visit. The town had almost nothing to give to its visitors other than the lack of pollution in the city due to it still retaining its natural state and the almost zero amount of man-made pollution.

In fact, Namimori had been the centre of research for a couple of environmentalists. The town council received commissions from the researchers and for a few years, Namimori tasted glory. However sweet things realistically never lasted long. Since the city was so intent on keeping its natural state, there was barely any researchable progress and whatever attraction that it had to researchers slowly diminished because of the lack of element of change.

Its population was steadily decreasing by the year due to the attraction from the bigger cities nearby that caused people from the town to move there. There was an argument by the Tokyo City Council that it might be more correct now to refer to Namimori as a village than a town but the fact that Namimori was one of the few small towns that had its own University made it less a village.

The Namimori University was one of the few developments during the town's glorious days. It was set up by a retired University lecturer whose purpose was initially more philantropical that profitable.

Now, it was obvious that the University was what made the town still alive and running. The town council was in full control of the University and the dean was no more than just a needed appearance.

Timoteo was very much aware of his true position as a figurehead but that did not deter him from making sure that the University was still alive and kicking.

"Ah, Reborn. What a pleasant surprise. Nice of you to finally drop by to see this old man."

Reborn nodded in greeting. "Chaos, Timoteo." He entered the almost empty office save for the bookshelves that housed more decorations that work-related items while ignoring the paperworks on Timoteo's table that he knew was just for show. He strode towards the dean's table, casually sitting in the chair across from Timoteo.

If Timoteo was being honest, Reborn was one frightening man. Timoteo knew that it was not just a trick of his image as a sharply dressed man that made him terrifying. He exuded an unusual amount of confidence that could only be possessed by one who accepted himself the way he was. It was obvious in the way he presented himself that Reborn was the kind of man who knew what he wanted and would do anything to get it. The dark depth of his eyes were always terrifyingly clear.

If he did not know Reborn, he would find him just as scary as any other person would.

"What brings you here?" Timoteo questioned, honestly surprised. If he counted the amount of time Reborn came to the University, his palm would still be wide open without him folding his thumb twice.

Reborn just gave a small smile to the older male. "Just a work call." He nodded at the paperworks on the table. "Is there anything new?"

Timoteo knew exactly what the man was referring to. He pulled open one of the drawers joined to his desk. "I was just about to have this e-mailed to you. We've just received his report on the case of Junko Furuta." Timoteo handed the assignment paper to Reborn who took it with a pleased gleam in his eyes. "That's just a copy though, not the graded one."

"Perfect."

Truthfully, Timoteo did not understand Reborn's fascination with Sawada Tsunayoshi. That might be due to his lack of interest on criminal psychology but Reborn drank the information about the younger male like a thirsty man in a desert. He wondered what exactly the young student had done three years ago to catch the attention of someone like Reborn. With how the student seemed to also catch the attention of the Head of the Investigation Unit of the police force, Timoteo was willing to bet his money that it was the student's approach to things that attracted both individuals.

He did not know much about the officer but he knew that intelligence was equivalent to shiny things for dragons in Reborn's book.

He just watched as the man stood to leave. He knew the man enough to know that he should not ask so directly about his interests in the student. Reborn was the kind of person who would only share things he wanted to share. If Timoteo asked him now, the most he would get from him was a vague answer.

It was not like Timoteo was interested to know anyway.

* * *

When the guest lecturer entered the room, Tsuna was vaguely aware how most of the occupants in the room, male and female alike, started to whisper excitedly. Being almost like a loner in the class of sixty people, he did not really have anyone to talk to. He did turn his attention to the front of the class though, away from his phone where he was scrolling through his social media feed, but the sight of the man with weird curly sideburns in a fedora and a suit did little to interest him.

The man was talking to the lecturer so Tsuna just went back to checking his feed. There were not many updates from his friends. Even Yamamoto, who tended to share funny videos to his feed, was unusually quiet. Granted, it was usually this month when everyone was busy with assignments and tests but Tsuna still found it abnormal that his closest friend was away from his phone.

Tsuna clicked on Yamamoto's home page. He frowned seeing that the last post the male did was of a morning greeting yesterday. He tried refreshing the page yet there was still no update.

He tried to think nothing of the interactions he had with Yamamoto yesterday. Granted, the sports major might be busy to the point that he was unable to update anything on his social media. Tsuna knew that there was a pressure for Yamamoto to get himself a contract to one of the professional teams since the man refused to be a coach. But then, there was the way he talked to Tsuna.

Tsuna was used to bitter undertones so he would recognize it when he heard it. Yamamoto was upset about something.

"Chaos," the man said into the mic.

Tsuna felt his mind twitched into rapt focus at the peculiar way of getting their attention. Warily, he lifted his gaze to look at the front of the class. Tsuna's proficiency in the English language might not be that impressive due to his self-taught knowledge but it was enough just to get by the number of English criminology journals he loved reading in his spare time. He knew what the word meant and his mind immediately wrapped around the fact that the word meant discordance.

With that, the students who were previously gushing about the man immediately quieted down. Tsuna wondered how someone could silence people with only a word that was descriptive of the situation but was not at all a demand for it.

The man's eyes moved around the room and every student who was unfortunate enough to have the man's eyes on them immediately flinched in their seats. The man's eyes drank in the expression of every one of the students with the sadistic gleam in them intensifying by the second. When his eyes caught Tsuna's, Tsuna could have sworn that the man smirked but before Tsuna could ponder on it any longer, his gaze moved again.

It felt like an incredibly long time until the man spoke again.

"Chaos," the man repeated again. "Most of you already know but my name is Reborn." He glanced at the student directly in front of him. If Tsuna remembered correctly, the student was the son of the previous Chief of Police. "I can see that there are many sons and daughters of established police officers here but for the sake of those who have not yet heard of me, which is very unfortunate because I am the best in this area of expertise," his eyes trained at another individual. Tsuna briefly recalled that he had seen that classmate of his helping out her mother at the fresh vegetable stall in town. Tsuna's sharp mind caught onto what the subject of the man's gaze insinuated. Reborn eventually trained his gaze on his. He felt dread creeping into his stomach. "And I am one of the Arcobaleno."

Tsuna's eyes widened at the mention of the group.

* * *

The talk ended early than expected. Tsuna had every mind to quickly pack his stuffs and ran out of the hall but as he had been sitting in the middle seat of the long set of chairs, he had to wait for the people on his either sides to walk out. He could feel his patience thinning and his heart thumping in his ears when they just continued talking and joking around, paying no heed to the brunet even as he stood there with his bag already slung over one shoulder.

By the time he managed to get to the stairs, he saw the Arcobaleno standing at the end of the it. Immediately, Tsuna felt his instincts screaming to tell him to avoid the man but he remained his action. When he reached the foot of the stairs, the man still did not move.

From the way he was looking at him, Tsuna knew that the man knew who he was.

"You guys are quite persistent, aren't you?" Tsuna chose not to keep his facade of obliviousness as to who the man was. Instead, he wore an expression of exasperation. "I really don't have time for this," he mumbled under his breath.

The man worked at the town council. Who was to say that he had not yet seen Tsuna's face. Tsuna could vaguely remember the ridiculous amount of details and document's copies that they asked for.

Reborn's smirk widened. "Make time," he demanded. "We'll talk about it over coffee."

* * *

Two patrol officers were walking around the Namimori playground. There was barely anything happening around the area considering how close it was to the elementary school. The road just outside the playground was always full of cars passing by and the pathway was often used by housewives alike to head to the stores to buy groceries. However, with the increase in the number of crime, it would not hurt to be a bit more careful.

"Might be because those brats aren't out yet," the officer with black hair commented. He kicked on one of the stray pebbles. "I could bet you that this was used to bully one unfortunate kid." His mouth turned downwards in disgust.

"What?" The other officer laughed at his obvious sentiments. "Were you bullied or something?" At the deepening of his scowl, the officer laughed harder. "That's a bit hard to believe."

"Hey, you've only seen the me now," he said, pointing at himself. "If you saw my old pictures from Middle School, you wouldn't even believe that that is me."

"So you're a bullied kid turned policeman," he guffawed. "What a cliché story you have." He nudged his friend, causing the other man to trip on the uneven ground. "Do you have a hero com- Are you okay?"

The black-haired officer patted the dust off his backside after he stood back up. A frown came to his face. "I don't remember the ground being this uneven when we were making rounds last week."

The other officer faked a wince. "Ooh, must be a nasty fall there."

"What?! I didn't fall that hard! ….I think. Shit, now I'm all muddy."

The officer was about to tease his friend for his clumsiness again when the sight of something made his blood ran cold. "I'm sorry to say this but did you lose your hair or something?"

"What are you talking about now? My hair is still attached, thank you very – "He turned to look at what his friend was looking at. Adrenaline immediately washed over him. He went back into a crouch, not caring if his uniform pants would get dirtier. "Someone might have gotten their hair cut. You know how bullies can be," he muttered, more to himself than anyone else. His hand went to grab onto the hair and he tugged on it.

He felt something heavy connected to it. With a horror-filled expression, he turned to his friend.

"Um…Do you know if this particular area is registered?" When the other man shook his head slowly, gulping, he continued. "Because…Because I think there's something attached to this."

"What the actual fuck?"

* * *

Alaude's lips were set into a thin line as he watched the cot which carried the body being brought into the van. His hand inched towards the handcuffs in his pocket, a souvenir from his first mission. It was a habit he adopted after years of working in the area. The piece of metal gave him the calm that he needed. It assured him that he would find the perpetrator no matter what.

He received a call from one of the patrol officers on morning duty notifying him that a body was found just near Namimori playground. It was purely coincidence on the man's part to be honest. The body was buried almost perfectly and there was absolutely nothing at a glance that indicated that it was not a proper burial.

Since the number of unexplained serial killing drastically increased in Japan, there was a new law which needed people to register the place of burial at the town council. That was what rang the alarm bell. It was not unusual for people to be buried around the playground, at least not in Namimori. There were instances when the relatives or the spouse of the deceased asked for them to be laid to rest at their most beloved place. In fact, there were at least eight graves here in the playground.

A red-haired man approached Alaude. The prominent scowl on his face was pulled even tighter and Alaude's hand that was playing with the handcuff slightly tensed.

"Alaude," the man greeted, his voice a weird mixture of solemn and anger.

Alaude only stared to show the other man that he was listening. G was the Head of Patrols and Alaude worked with him enough to know that the man was the best at his job.

"I'm afraid we'll have to send the body to Daemon and wait for his clarification. We need to identify the body to see if the death's identity is registered. This person might be moved without proper update to the town council."

Alaude just waited for the full report in silence.

"I don't have the exact number but the body looks weeks old," he sighed in frustration. "I can't believe that we missed this one," he mumbled under his breath glancing at the departing van.

"There's something else," Alaude pointed out monotonously while trying to get G to blurt out the information that he held from him. Every unregistered body was always sent to Daemon for testing but normally, G would have an idea of what was happening just by examining the body with a look at it and the surrounding situation. To see the man looked almost disturbed and out of sorts sent him warning bells.

When the other man looked at him again, Alaude knew to expect the worse. "It is still too early to say but the body looks weeks old," G repeated slowly as if his mind was trying to work out whatever he was saying. "But the condition that it's in suggested otherwise. It looks...fresh." G took a deep frustrated breath. "There is also the fact that a part of her body was missing. I'm not talking about just the limbs. The bones are still there but..."

Alaude frowned at what G was hinting at. They were not even done with the murder cases. And now, cannibals?

"Your guess is as good as mine," G said, knowing where Alaude's mind was heading. "There really isn't much evidence here. Everything was done cleanly and I doubt that it's the work of an amateur."

Alaude silently hummed in agreement.

* * *

They ended up having coffee at the school's cafeteria. While it was an unusual sight that someone with a status like the Arcobaleno was sitting with a student, Tsuna's reputation preceded any thoughts. Despite his tendency to be alone, save for when Yamamoto Takeshi came for a visit, Tsuna was hailed throughout the Criminology department as a genius. His achievements were no secret. While he always avoided getting into debates with his lecturers and peers and while he kept to himself most of the time, no one could just rule it as a coincidence whenever his paper came out with a perfect first.

So it was not very shocking that an Arcobaleno decided to seek him out. The Arcobalenos were known to be the best out of the best with the way they ruled their town. There were rumors that they were a group of geniuses in their respective field. Reborn, especially, was a respectable high-ranking investigator before he was selected as one of the people to keep the town running. The man was reportedly self-employed, running his own detective agency in Tokyo after he landed in Japan from Italy. He did commissioned many jobs from formal and informal legal authorities alike and it was said that every one of his mission turned out successful. He had a perfect one hundred percent success rate, which was one hell of an achievement considering that the man was often involved with bodily harm cases including assaults and murders.

The air around the two individuals was intensely calm. They both were obviously sizing each other up while taking a sip of their respective drinks. It felt like a long time had passed when Tsuna decided to break the quiet.

"I hope I'm not being rude but," he smiled, "May I know why my family have been receiving invitations to private events for almost three years now? I would have thought that our silence would stop any future invites."

Tsuna did not know what made the man's eyes shone with amusement at his question. He thought his words over but he still could not find what was so funny about it.

"Dame-Tsuna," Tsuna twitched at his old nickname from his middle school days. "A lot of people would be happy to receive invitations from us."

"Yes but by now you guys should've known that my parents are barely home." Tsuna stirred his kinako latte, careful to not make any clinking sound.

Reborn did not even flinch under the brunet's scrutinizing stare. To be honest, Tsuna would be more surprised if he did. "Baka Tsuna," Reborn said. "Surely you should have known by now just who the letter is actually for."

"Well," Tsuna leaned against his chair. "It would be embarrassing if I assumed wrong. That still leaves things unanswered though." He stared. "Why are you trying to get me to go to the private parties?"

"Who knows," Reborn said helpfully, knowing full well that the brunet was riled by his answer. "In fact, I did not have any intention to talk to you about those things right now and still don't." He took a deep sip of his espresso, glancing a bit at Tsuna's still half full drink. "I'm here for a totally different business." He looked at Tsuna straight in the eyes. "I want you to surrender yourself to the police."

Tsuna immediately stopped stirring. There were a lot of interpretations that could be gotten from that last sentence alone and none of it was good. Tsuna's eyes were immediately filled with confusion. "What are you talking about?"

Reborn tilted his head slightly downward in a conspiratorial gesture after looking around the room as if to make a point. His voice dropped a notch. "I heard that the Investigation Unit of the local police station is hunting for you."

Tsuna narrowed his eyes at the man. "Can you make your statement less suggestive?" He shook his head in exasperation before sighing tiredly. "They want me to join them but," he smiled bitterly, "I have a part-time job, you know. I can't really depend much on my parents right now."

"If money is the issue, then I can arrange for it to be a paid internship."

"That doesn't change the fact that I had no interest in winning when I joined the competition."

"That doesn't change the fact that you did win and you're supposed to collect your reward," Reborn retorted back.

"What is it to you that I join them?"

Reborn smirked causing Tsuna to shiver. "Everything."

* * *

"Tadaima," Tsuna announced as he entered his house. He immediately went to the living area and was not surprised to see the spiky end of Mukuro's hair on the couch as the male watched the television.

Mukuro did not even turn his gaze to him and instead he delved his hand into the bag of chips in his hand.

Tsuna's let out an exasperated sound. "Really? You went through my snack stash?"

Mukuro glanced at Tsuna before returning his attention back to the screen. "It's just 100 yen, Tsunayoshi-kun."

"Yeah." Tsuna threw himself onto the couch. "I just had a bad day."

"Oya? Mind sharing?"

Tsuna managed to steal a handful of chips. He shoved them into his mouth before he resigned himself to telling the other boy about his meeting with Reborn. "In the end, I couldn't say no. They intended to chase me everywhere until I relented." He dramatically threw his head back before staring listlessly at the screen. "What did I get myself into?"

"Kufufu," Mukuro laughed. "You sealed your fate when you decided to take Criminology as your major, Tsunayoshi-kun. You might have as well just signed a deal with the devil."

Tsuna looked at Mukuro pointedly. "I signed my deal with the devil a long time ago."

"At least you haven't been to hell six times."

Tsuna smiled bitterly.

"When do you have to start reporting for duty?"

"Tomorrow."

* * *

 **AN: Thank you to those who reviewed, Favorited and alerted! You guys made my day. I felt more motivated to write because of you guys! I thought that** **it would be difficult to make people read this due to the murder mystery theme so I'm very glad at the turnout.**

 **To Jkhoj, thank you so much for your interest! I hope this chapter made you more interested.**

 **To Tetsuya Dragneel, well, here's Chapter 2! Hope you like it!**

 **I would love to hear more about what you guys think so please do leave a review on your way out!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I am simply borrowing the characters for this story. This fanfic will be as original as it can be. Similarities with other fanfics are not intended. The story is not related to any real story and similarities are simply coincidence. Reference to real life places are just to set the setting. This is strictly a work of fiction.**

 **Warning: Dark theme and OOC-ness. This fic also contains hints of bendable morals which might not be comfortable for some people.**

* * *

 **Chapter 3**

As soon as Tsuna woke up, he had the mind to inform Yamamoto about his newly found job. He was lying on his bed while dutifully ignoring the constant thumping next door. He paid no attention to the familiar sense of foreboding tugging at his heart strings. Any other person would have been curious at the questionable sound but knowing Mukuro, it was better not to disturb him.

His eyebrows were scrunched together as he tried to think of what to say to Yamamoto after his self-conclusion to what was happening with the aspiring professional baseball player. Yamamoto seemed to be bitter about his success stories and even if Tsuna saw nothing succesful about his current predicament, considering how Yamamoto tried to make him take the reward just a few days back, this news would have the effect of adding fuel to the fire.

 _Thump. Thump._

His lips curled into a pout as he tried to concentrate. Not long afterwards, he let out a 'whatever' sounding kind of sigh and typed the truth and clicked 'send' before he changed his mind. It was better that Yamamoto heard this news from him than from anyone else.

 _Yamamoto-kun, I have already resigned from our part-time job. Sorry for the abrupt notice. I've decided to give the internship a try. - Tsuna_

There, nice and direct.

His mind was still reeling from the text so he turned his phone upside down beside his pillow. He knew that Yamamoto would connect the dots easily. He would figure out what exactly made Tsuna changed his mind. Despite his airhead character, Yamamoto could be very sharp. Tsuna saw his keen intelligence a multiple times when he was on the baseball field. Yamamoto was a genius in his field, an all-rounder. Despite their differences, they both were perfectionists in their own right.

He sat up and had just had his feet on the floorboard when the sound of something crashing attracted his full attention.

Jumping off his bed, he wasted no time to go next door. He did not even bother knocking. He merely pushed the door open and the state of the room made him gape.

"What happened here?" he demanded.

Papers were splayed out all over the room covering almost every surface. A chair was upturned but Tsuna did not need a closer inspection to know that it was not broken. Tsuna might live alone but his father made sure that everything in the house was sturdy and long-lasting. The fan heater was lying on its back and Tsuna's nose twitched at the smell of something being burnt. There were no scorched signs so Tsuna assumed that it came from the fan heater.

Mukuro's head snapped back to look at Tsuna. He was surprised that the older male did not get a whiplash but at the sight of his wild eyes, Tsuna thought that even if he did, he would not be able to realize it.

Tsuna slowly took a step in. And another. And another.

Mukuro looked down at the floor and ran a hand down his face. He sighed. "Sorry Tsunayoshi-kun. I'll clean this mess as soon as I can." His voice was tight. Tsuna could only wonder the kind of demons were in his head right then.

Tsuna examined the room again looking for the thing he knew that he would find. Not long after, Tsuna saw bits of writing on the floorboard hidden partially by the papers. Without thinking much of it, he moved one paper using his foot to the side causing the others in that direction to follow suit. The sight of the repeated words painted red did not make Tsuna flinch.

 _Kill them all. Kill them all. Kill them all._

To be honest, Tsuna was more surprised that this did not happen earlier.

"I thought you'd gotten better since you secluded yourself in that abandoned town."

"Kufufu." Tsuna heard the genuine amusement from Mukuro's bitter tone alone. He could not help but smile. "I won't even have to seclude myself away from society if I did get better, Tsunayoshi-kun."

A look came to Tsuna's face but he pushed it away. Mukuro was goading him to say what he wanted to say. Tsuna's smile was unpleasant. "That was dangerous, Mukuro."

Tsuna could count on Mukuro to know that he was not referring to what happened but to Mukuro's statement. There was a sharp drop in the air around them as Mukuro was no doubt on the verge of replying with a hostile remark but to his credit, he held back.

Tsuna guessed he was being childish too. Mukuro was obviously still on edge and he was as sensitive as a sponge right now. He would bounce back with retaliation for every word that Tsuna directed to him.

He decided to do something right for the other man. "Come on. You can clean this after I make you a drink."

* * *

He went straight to the police station after his class, not wanting Reborn to come pick him up as he threatened to do yesterday. It could not be a coincidence that Reborn knew what class he had yesterday. Reborn must have an informant from this University. Considering how cunning the man could be, Tsuna could not just rule the thought out. He must have unimaginable connections.

When he arrived there, he saw a green haired lad leaning against his chair with his feet set up on the table. He had his head tilted up with a manga covering his face and Tsuna could hear the tell-tale of snores.

Tsuna saw the ringer situated on top of the desk and a 'please ring if you need assistance' sign. Thinking that this was probably the reason why such a thing existed in a supposedly 24-hours manned reception table, he pressed on it.

At the shrill sound of the bell, the man abruptly sat up with his hands on the plastic arms of his chair and his feet falling to the ground, the manga falling onto his lap. "Geez G, I'm up, I'm up!" The man blinked at the sight of brown eyes and fluffy brown hair that greeted him. His eyebrows scrunched in confusion. "Wait a minute, you're not G."

Tsuna mentally wondered who G is before smiling politely. "No, unfortunately...or fortunately," Tsuna slowly added when he saw the relieved expression on the officer's face. "My name is Sawada Tsunayoshi. I'm here to see the Superintendent."

The man's electric blue eyes shone in recognition at the mention of his name. "Oh! You're the brat that Alaude wanted to recruit!" He grabbed the manga on his lap and hid it under the desk while smoothly standing up. "You're a troublesome one, you know. I was the one assigned to contact you."

Tsuna did not know how to respond to that. Particularly because he was intentionally ignoring all the correspondence.

Shaking his head, the other man went around his desk and walked towards his right where Tsuna saw a corridor with a row of doors just as he came in through the entrance. "Follow me...Sawada Tsunayoshi, right?"

"Yes," Tsuna confirmed as he walked behind the man.

They reached a door lacking a sign. When the door was opened, Tsuna was puzzled to see a grey desk and one foldable chair on each side in an otherwise empty room. Anyone could tell that this was no office. It looked more like an interrogation room what was with the tinted glass covering half of the wall on one side.

Tsuna blinked. "I didn't realize that I was to be detained."

"Mm?" The man questioned, gesturing at Tsuna to sit which the brunet obeyed without question. "Oh, sorry about that. We don't really have much space here. The Superintendent shares a workstation with the other heads. They always use this place for a meeting whenever it's not being used for an interrogation. Be right back...Sawada Tsunayoshi, right?"

Tsuna confirmed again, "Yes."

Tsuna was left alone in the room not long after that. The door was left open but it was pulled enough to give Tsuna his privacy which he was thankful for. He clenched his hands together to stop them from shaking.

He forced himself to look around the room well aware that a room like this would usually have a hidden camera and a microphone so that the people on the other side of the tinted window would be able to listen and watch the conversation in this room. He told himself that there was no reason to be nervous. He needed a clear mind to deal with this.

He was just considering whether or not to pull out his phone and check his feed to distract himself when the lazy looking officer entered the room again holding a glass of water.

"Sorry, man," he drawled. "I would've given you the customary tea or coffee but Knuckles just broke the water kettle. Hope this is okay."

"What?" He followed the man's hand as he placed the glass on the table, slightly alarmed. "No, no, that's fine. Don't worry about it."

The man stared at Tsuna questioningly before asking him again. "Sawada Tsunayoshi...right?"

Tsuna nodded slowly, not understanding why the man kept on trying to confirm his identity since when he informed him of who he was. There were so much questions in his electric blue eyes that Tsuna felt unnerved. "...Is there something the matter?"

"...You don't look that special."

Tsuna blinked, half sure that he was just insulted. He smiled at the male, his previous worry forgotten. He was satisfied to see the man flinching. "Pray tell, what physical appearances do I need to have to look special?" Tsuna waited for a beat or two to hear what else the man had to say but when he did not, he continued. "Personally, I don't think the physical characteristics of a person should equate to his intelligence the same way intelligence shouldn't be calculated using an IQ test. There are things that can't just be identified by just one kind of an impression."

"I agree. I can't help but feel offended by your statement, Lampo," a voice cut in. Tsuna turned towards the door only to see the familiar blonde head and equally familiar orange eyes. At the stern look he was given, Tsuna could not help but smiled guiltily. He watched the man moved to the seat across from him. "That said, 'not' Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun," he glanced at the green-haired male and nodded his dismissal causing Lampo to scurry out, "Have you suddenly decided to be Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun now?"

Tsuna let out a nervous chuckle at the obviously offended tone. "Well, Superintendent, sir. I've always been Sawada Tsunayoshi. I apologize for lying to you last time we met."

The Superintendent's eyes were more nerve wrecking than when Lampo observed him. The calm stare made him feel like he was being judged inside out but Tsuna managed a straight face. Tsuna knew that he should not act so cowardly lest he would be stepped on. He would not like another repeat of his childhood. Please.

When the older man sighed, Tsuna was tempted to follow suit if only to release the breath that he did not realize he was holding.

"I would've been angrier if Reborn did not fill me in about your situation." He pointedly looked at Tsuna. "Though, I still think that it's only common courtesy for you to at least respond why you refuse to accept your reward."

Instinctively, Tsuna wanted to retort, "Well, it's also common courtesy to not force someone to accept an internship that he never wanted," but he held his tongue. It was only his luck that Giotto took his rigidness as guilt.

"Reborn also informed me of the agreement between the both of you."

Agreement was a nice way to put it. He was coerced to do this.

"Since your remuneration will not be paid by us but by the Town Council, you'll have to go there to collect your pay every twenty third of the month."

Tsuna responded with a nod showing that he understood.

"Well," the blonde stood up. "It's your unlucky day unfortunately. Alaude wanted me to bring you to him as soon as you're here so you'll have a busy day ahead." As if remembering something, a resigned but frustrated expression appeared on his face. "Lampo forgot to prepare the Confidential Agreement." He exhaled just as Tsuna rose from his chair. "Nevermind. We can do that tomorrow. But bear in mind that whatever you'll gather onwards will be strictly confidential."

"Of course."

Giotto nodded. "Follow me."

* * *

Giotto glanced at the brunet sitting on the passenger seat beside him watching the scenery as he drove past them. The brunet had been avoiding looking at him since they entered the car. He could not blame the brunet considering that he was in a car with a stranger who was upset with him for lying.

The truth was Giotto was not really that angry. At least, he was angry up to the point when Reborn told him about the brunet's situation. He understood the brunet's reluctance to accept the job. He knew how exactly it was like to take care of himself from such a young age.

He heard from Reborn that the brunet was still a thirteen year old youth when his mother decided to take her own life. He knew that the Sawada family was well-off considering how many times he had seen Sawada Iemitsu's face on the business page of Tokyo's main newspaper. Yet, it was also well-known that the older Sawada rarely came to Namimori to check up on Tsunayoshi. He almost already permanently resided in his apartment in Tokyo. He would not be surprised if the father and son duo were on bad terms with each other after their household's matriarch sudden suicide.

When they arrived at their destination, Giotto spied Ugetsu standing in front of Daemon's lab. The man waved with a cheerful smile when he saw Giotto looking. The man's smile was so contagious that Giotto found himself returning it. He parked his car in front of the entrance area.

"We're here," Giotto announced before taking off his seatbelt and getting out of his car. As he shut his door, he heard Tsunayoshi hastily doing the same.

"Yo, Giotto," Ugetsu greeted him. He eyed the brunet approaching from the passenger side of the car. "Is that the kid?"

Giotto barely had the chance to answer when the other man went forward to greet the brunet. "Nice to meet you, Tsunayoshi! It's nice to finally meet you. You really had the station in an uproar the last few months," he chuckled. He extended his hand to Tsunayoshi.

An uneasy smile appeared on the brunet's face but he did not comment on Ugetsu's words. He shook Ugetsu's extended hand and Giotto recognized the look of approval in his fellow officer's eyes. "Nice to meet you too, um..."

Ugetsu looked surprised but he laughed it off causing the brunet to visibly relax. The man always had that kind of effect on people.

"Asari Ugetsu. Sorry about that. I assumed that you know who I am considering your background. This face always appear on TV, you know, since I'm in charge of press conferences and all."

The brunet looked almost embarrassed. "I'm sorry. I don't really watch the news unless it's on at the time."

"No worries there. It's my fault for assuming things. And before anything else," he looked at the brunet apologetically, "Sorry that your first assignment has to be this."

"Right," Giotto muttered, giving the brunet a pitying smile when he looked at him with a look full of questions.

* * *

Tsuna silently followed the two policemen in front of him while taking in his surroundings. He could not comprehend the meaning behind the two men's looks earlier but when they entered past the lobby, Tsuna understood.

The room they were in smelled of antiseptics and other kind of chemicals that Tsuna could not put his fingers on. He was forced into a white gown complete with a separate face mask, a pair of goggles and gloves. Tsuna had never been to one but he knew that this place was a morgue. His get-up was ridiculous but he had heard a lot about the contamination stories of a mortuary. He dared not take the risk to forgo these safety precautions.

It still astounded Tsuna how similar Asari was to Yamamoto. The resemblance was so uncanny. Now that he thought of it, he still had not received a reply from Yamamoto. He shrugged it off thinking that Yamamoto might just be busy. It was the final semester for school after all so Tsuna comprehended the lack of time.

When Giotto opened the door at the far end of the corridor for them to enter, Tsuna saw that there were two other males in the room who seemed to have a tense atmosphere surrounding them. One of them had a light blonde hair and the other's was blue styled in a way that Tsuna would have deemed weird had he not gotten used to Mukuro's fashion sense. The familiar sight almost got rid of his nervousness until he was reminded of the fact that Mukuro was back home.

"Nufufufu, the boss finally graced us with his presence. About time too, I think Alaude is on the verge of cutting my head off."

The other man, who he guessed was Alaude, did not even bother gracing the other man with an answer. Instead, his icy blue gaze was on Tsuna. Unsure, Tsuna offered a smile which was probably an absurd move since he doubted that it was visible with the mask covering half of his face aside for the slight stretching of his mask.

They moved towards the two men and as Tsuna got closer, he realized that the two men were standing in front of a makeshift surgical table pulled from one of the body freezers.

"Hello to you too, Daemon. I hope you have great news for us for your own good," Giotto greeted with a smile, taking a stance beside Alaude while peering over the table. "I can't promise to not let Alaude loose on you if you don't," he continued with a meaningful glance at Tsuna. Tsuna did not know what that meant but Alaude had an almost gleeful look in his eyes when Giotto said that. He believed that that had more to do with being set loose on Daemon though.

Daemon's eyes were immediately directed towards the brunet. His eyes were scrutinizing but Tsuna allowed himself to stand tall. He ignored the feeling that he was doing something wrong when an amused look came to the man's eyes. He could just be imagining it because the man dismissed him almost immediately as he turned back towards Giotto.

"I feel insulted, Giotto-kun. When have I ever called you out here if I don't have news to bear?"

Asari took that moment to stand beside Daemon. He flinched at the sight that greeted him. "Now I'm sure I'll be plagued by nightmares tonight."

Tsuna awkwardly stood by the side with only the corpse's feet visible from his line of vision. He was not sure if he was invited to see the body.

"That's if you even got time to sleep. The press have been breathing down our necks for information since yesterday evening. If Daemon has news for us, we have to arrange a conference for tomorrow," Giotto remarked causing Asari to groan.

Daemon rolled his eyes at the exchange. He pulled his gloves tighter even though his wrists were fully covered. "Let's not let the skylark wait any longer. He might ruin my workspace if we waste another minute." He pulled the white sheet off to his side. Asari grimaced in response.

Tsuna got even more curious when he saw Asari's reaction. To see a veteran policeman react like that must have meant that whatever was done to the body was beyond humane. Judging from the smooth skin of the corpse's feet, Tsuna just could not even start to picture it. It looked normal enough.

"The victim's name is Sugihara Miwa-chan, born on April twenty sixth at twenty four past six in nineteen seventy four. I did not bother checking for the time of death since I had to make sure one thing first; if the body had been dug out which is a suspiscion our," he nodded at Alaude, "Esteemed detective here cryptically informed me about."

Giotto's gaze sharpened at that statement, silently urging Daemon to continue.

"It is impossible anyway to determine from her body temperature if she was indeed dug out from her grave and was then placed in a cold room. However, it is much more impossible to tell from her vital organs," he chuckled as he pointed to where her liver was positioned. "For obvious reasons."

At the glares he received from his colleagues, he let out a dramatic sigh but went on. He nodded at a table at the far corner of the room where no one except Tsuna bothered to momentarily turn to. "So I asked the town council about Miwa-chan. Thankfully, Fon was the one who responded." His tone took a somewhat grateful note.

Tsuna saw how the other officers except Alaude relaxed at the mention of the name Fon. Tsuna wondered why it was a good thing that it was this Fon guy who responded to their query.

"He e-mailed me a copy of the location registration as evidence and guess what I found?" His amusement took a dark turn. "The poor woman died on August twenty fifth. The documents showed that Miwa-chan's registered burial was at Namimori Park just beside the old Sakura tree." Tsuna could hear the grin in his voice when he said, "I even took the liberty of sending my team to check the place out. As expected, there is a sign of the area being dug. It was covered but not perfectly."

He ran a finger through the ribcage area. "Judging how everything was cut out perfectly, it's safe to conclude that we have a gourmet killer on the loose, everyone."

"Ugh, gross," Ugetsu mumbled, earning a stern stare from Giotto no doubt because Tsuna was there.

"What?" Daemon countered. "Nufufu. Haven't you heard? I heard human meat tastes better than normal meat."

Giotto's hand itched to run through his hair. "At least that answers your question, Alaude." He turned to the quiet male. "Is there anything else that you want him to clarify?"

"None," was his curt answer.

"Good," he stared at the body in front of him. "So now how can we put that into words suitable for the public?" he questioned to no one in particular. He turned to Asari. "I need to talk to you outside." He looked briefly at Alaude. "You too."

* * *

Tsuna's stare followed the three as they walked past him. Ugetsu was the only one who looked at him with crinkled eyes to which he reciprocated with a tight smile. He only turned back towards the direction of the body when he heard the door being closed shut.

He found Daemon's eyes were on him with that scrutinizing look again. It must be a few seconds when Daemon finally talked.

"Do you want to come and see?"

The way he said it seemed neutral but from the way he said it, it was as if the man was calculating his worth. There were a lot of things that Tsuna wanted to do at once at that statement, the persistent one being wanting to say no. However, he did not do that. He instead took a step forward in response, gathering that his action was answer enough. Daemon gave a satisfied nod and went to continue checking on the body.

Soon enough, Tsuna was standing where Alaude was. His eyes stayed glued to the corpse's straight feet. He drank in the sight as he slowly dragged his eyes upwards. He could hardly discerned Daemon's eyes on him. Above the right ankle, the body was almost clean of the skin and meat that were supposed to be there. The bones were visible and Tsuna noticed that her kneecap was bruised. The other half of the body, he discovered, looked almost untouched. His eyes continued further up beyond the ribcage where there were finally skin. He reached the corpse's face just as Daemon shone light over Sugihara Miwa's eyes.

A wave of recognition dawned on him.

He must have made a sound as without looking, Daemon directed, "Bucket under the table."

He immediately pulled the bucket out from its aforementioned location and emptied his lunch into it.

He was glad that Daemon did not see that he only felt sick when he saw the brown eyes peeking behind her lids that he knew were once warm with compassion.

* * *

 **AN: I was so happy every time my mail rang for every follows and favorites and reviews. Thank you so much guys! Here's the third chapter of Innocence! I hope you guys like this too.**

 **To Tetsuya Dragneel, Reborn will always be that one loveable jerk that we ended up liking ;)**

 **To iKitsuNeko, thank you so much! Hmmm, let's just wait and see, shall we? kekeke**

 **To Jkhoj, well, there's Giotto's reaction, hahaha. As for what's bothering Takeshi... you might get that answer in the next chapter...or the next...or the one after that. kekeke**

 **To sashimilove, thank you for your kind words! I'm glad that you find this story very different.**

 **And, don't forget to post your review and let me know what you think on your way out!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I am simply borrowing the characters for this story. This fanfic will be as original as it can be. Similarities with other fanfics are not intended. The story is not related to any real story and similarities are simply coincidence. Reference to real life places are just to set the setting. This is strictly a work of fiction.**

 **Warning: Dark theme and OOC-ness. This fic also contains hints of bendable morals which might not be comfortable for some people.**

* * *

 **Chapter 4**

It had been three days since Tsuna worked with the police and from what he had gathered, the only lead that they managed to get was the name of the person who lodged the registration for Sugihara Miwa's place of burial. His eyes glazed in thought at their primary suspect's identity.

Sugihara Mugi was Sugihara Miwa's stepbrother from her father's fifth marriage. There was little known as to the nature of their relationship but word was that he was currently out of town so Alaude was unable to get a hold of him. Tsuna managed to sneak a peek of his picture from one of the files that Lampo had carelessly left on one of the workstation tables which Tsuna guessed belonged to the one officer that he had yet to meet. If he remembered correctly, Lampo said that there was an officer named G.

The man in the picture looked unfamiliar to him. The elfish ears, straight nose, thin lips and droopy eyes did not ring a bell in his head. At the moment, there were little known about their primary suspect. Other than the formal registered documents that they managed to get their hands on, they were almost nothing worth noting. Noted that the only documents that they had were the ones related to the burial itself and of the victim but that still did not cross out the fact that they barely had anything.

Tsuna had not had an on hand experience before but he watched enough to know that it was those things not on paper that mattered. Well, formal documents were helpful. They needed those as some kind of direction. Still, the fact that they did not really help much still stayed.

His curiosity was what got him out at the playground one Saturday morning. He was sitting on one of the swing set, mindlessly swinging himself lightly. The yellow tape preventing people from disturbing the crime scene was long gone. When Tsuna saw the smooth ground by the swing set just next to the forest, he wondered just what he was doing there. He should have known that the state of the ground had been returned to its original state. The area was too public. There was no way that the town council would allow this incident to haunt the children and school goers frequenting this particular playground. They would never risk a backlash from overprotective parents.

What made him so unhealthily interested though was more about the burial registration itself than the other more important facts like the fact that someone had dug out the corpse and ate it. He knew and remembered that the body was initially buried in Namimori Park. The park was actually located not far from this playground. Tsuna knew from memories that it normally took around five to eight minutes' walk.

Tsuna made one final push before he jumped off the swing.

He needed not to think too much of it for now. He had books to copy.

* * *

Tsuna had been busy hogging the copier machine in the main library printing one chapter out of one of the books he found online to back up a final argument he wanted to touch on for his thesis. He was on his fifth book already and it certainly was not the last one.

Tsuna was aware of the silver-haired guy who kept walking past where Tsuna was. He kept sneaking a glance at the machine that Tsuna was currently monopolizing. It was probably his tenth time within two minutes trying to remain inconspicuous while walking past that Tsuna decided to tell him.

"There's another one in the quiet area behind that body scanner over there," Tsuna nodded towards the direction while his hand busied themselves with changing the page of the book and clicking the green button. "I think it should be vacant. There's barely anyone in the building."

The man stopped in the middle of his steps, mouth gaping at Tsuna causing Tsuna to wonder if he said something wrong. "What the fuck makes you think that?"

Tsuna almost gave him a hard stare but held back. "Oh," he said as the thought suddenly came to him. "Do you perhaps want this book? I'll be done in a bit. I still have a few pages left."

The man glared at him before finally leaving Tsuna alone. Tsuna just blinked in confusion. He did not say anything wrong, did he?

* * *

Alaude scanned the paper containing all the information of Sugihara Mugi in his hand. He was content to know that the others were not in the office. He loved the quiet. It made it easier to think.

The details about the man were mostly normal. He was a Namimori citizen since birth and his background was mostly average. There was nothing special about him worth noting but Alaude would not just give up on this one lead. One thing Alaude learnt while being in this post was that everything was connected. Someone in the web of connections had to have some kind of information. That was why he wanted to see this person. He needed to know the information not on this paper.

He wanted the little animal to accompany him when Sugihara Mugi finally got back in town but Giotto strictly said that the little animal would not have the warrant to do that. Sawada Tsunayoshi's position should be confined to the station alone and site visits for the purpose of investigation. Nothing more, nothing less. Giotto also stressed the fact that the brunet was still a student so they should not monopolize his time too much until school was over, not that Alaude minded. He had seen the brunet's eyes lit up whenever he filled the little animal in on their findings. He had no doubt that the little animal's curiousity would make him kept coming back.

He stood up from his seat. Maybe it was time to scout Sugihara Mugi's residential area. Maybe his neighbours had something to share. He could not just wait for the man to return.

* * *

Tsuna saw Mukuro standing in front of the convenience store next to the fast food place where they agreed to go to just as they promised to meet. He scanned the can of beer in Mukuro's hand and without thinking, he snatched it and threw it to the side, half processing the impact the still full can made on the concrete ground.

"No beer. No getting drunk on my watch, please."

There was a sense of urgency in his voice that made Mukuro stared at him strangely.

"Oya? That's just my first can, Tsunayoshi-kun. Kufufu. I won't even get buzzed from that."

Tsuna did not bother commenting but flinched at the sweet smell that the spilled beer emitted. He awkwardly let his arms hung on his sides.

"You look tense." Mukuro's eyes immediately lost the usual taunting look. "I won't get drunk. I promise."

"Yeah?" Tsuna smiled sadly. "She promised too."

* * *

Tsuna stared at the notifications on his phone as Yamamoto spammed his apologies, his mouth enclosing on his cheeseburger. Apparently, he woke up late for his training and was unable to respond to Tsuna's message when he saw it and only remembered to do so now. He wished Tsuna the best of luck in whatever Tsuna was doing at the police station and advised him against deleting his criminal records just so that he could get higher in life than he already was because he should not be too greedy.

Tsuna's eyes almost narrowed at the last text when another text came in.

 _Joking. - Yamamoto_

 _Actually, why don't you delete mine too? I think I got involved in a couple of petty acts back in highschool. - Yamamoto_

 _Hahaha. Jokes. - Yamamoto_

Tsuna slowly munched on his food thinking of what to reply to that when Mukuro decided to break the silence of their lunchtime.

"Pray tell. What exactly do you need my help with?"

Tsuna lifted his gaze to stare at the other man's heterochromatic eyes while munching his food. Even though Tsuna said he would pay for their lunch, Mukuro just ordered a kid-sized tempura nugget box with sides of chips.

"I don't think this is the right place to talk about this," Tsuna pointed out as soon as his mouth was clear, looking warily at their surroundings.

The navy-haired male followed Tsuna's gaze and at the sight of the almost empty fast food restaurant, he could not help but drily commented. "Kufufu. Right. There are many people who could have listened in on our conversation."

Tsuna had the decency to look sheepish. "Well. This place is still too public." Tsuna eyed the weird haired man arguing with the poor woman behind the cashier. "Anyone could be listening."

"Oya? This has nothing to do with your new job, does it?"

"I would say no but it is dangerously getting personal." Tsuna took a huge bite on his food again. "Like, _personal_ ," he stressed.

Understanding dawned on Mukuro. "Was it...?"

"No," Tsuna lips curled. "It was an old one."

Mukuro shook his head in disbelief. "And what? You didn't get in trouble? Isn't the body unregistered?"

"That's the thing!" Tsuna suddenly shouted, his easy expression turning panicked before he schooled his mask back when he realized the man and woman at the counter looking at him weirdly. "I mean," he dropped his voice but the panic still slipped through. He sighed. "My mind is so full of conclusions right now and none of them make any sense. I feel like I'm going insane."

"You want me to stop you."

Tsuna smiled wryly. "I do stupid things when I'm unstable like this, Mukuro-kun. You're the only one I can trust."

Mukuro's eyes shone with amusement. "Kufufu. How ironic."

Tsuna gave a tight grin, "Right?"

* * *

An old woman was cleaning off the dried leaves from the courtyard of her house. She stared at the persimmons still hanging strongly to the tree branches surrounded by the dying leaves. She had given many to her children and grandchildren and neighbours but there were still a lot left. She reckoned it was a blessing for her persimmon tree to bear this much fruit but for an old woman living alone, it was too much.

She exhaled. "These persimmons will be wasted if no one's gonna eat it." She scratched the ground using the rake in her hands hard. "Really. Who else am I supposed to give them to?" she voiced out her worries.

Just as she said that, she spied a blonde-haired lad walking in front of her resident compound. She blinked in surprised seeing a foreign looking man walking around in the neighbourhood. Her mouth gaped in awe at the sight of the man, never once seeing someone who was not Japanese in this side of the town. He looked very familiar though.

Granted it was not the first time that she saw a foreigner. She lived her life through the Second World War but at that time, there was no time to appreciate the fact that the enemies were just as human as they were. She was just a shy away from reaching three years of age when the war started and at that time, she was taught that she was not to believe anyone else that did not look Japanese. She was too busy surviving.

She noticed that the man was looking for something. He was doing it so discreetly but to her wise eyes, it looked as obvious as the sun. Maybe the man was lost.

Deciding to do a good deed, she called out. "Young lad! Are you looking for something?"

The man was not at all startled. He just calmly looked at her direction before he went to stand just on the side of the gate. "Do you know a Sugihara Mugi?"

She was unable to hide her surprise. "You speak Japanese?" She grinned and went towards the gate. The aloof looking young did not look like he could speak her language. "Who did you say you were looking for?"

"Sugihara Mugi."

"I'm afraid this old lady is not familiar with that name. The only people with the Sugihara surname in this neighbourhood were the people in the house next to mine."

She could discern the confuse look from the miniscule twitch of his eyebrow. "He might not be in this part of the neighbourhood," she suggested. "The only Sugihara I knew were the Sugihara next door, bless their soul."

"You knew Sugihara Miwa?"

"Of course! I didn't know that Miwa-chan knew someone like you." Her voice turned sad. "A sweet girl she was. That girl used to drop by after her part-time shift at the local vegetable market. She said she didn't like it that an old lady like me is staying alone in this house. But there's nothing I can do, you know. My kids left to live with their family in Tokyo. They invited me but I refused since this was the first haven I've ever received. I married into the family when I was barely ten to keep on living." She smiled. "I guess it's a blessing in disguise for her though. After taking over her parents' debts when they got into that accident and all. I heard it wasn't a small debt."

"Her parents died in an accident?"

"Sad, right? I know. They were buried in the local cemetery just a few minutes from here. You might have seen it on your way. Miwa-chan was the one taking care of it all, being the only child." At the faraway look on the man's face, her eyes widened. "I must be boring you with all these stories, young man."

"No," he said in a low voice. "That was good information."

"I'm glad I could help. Sorry if this old lady is talking a lot." She gave a self-conscious laugh. "It's unusual that I have someone to talk to."

"Have anyone else dropped by her house?"

"None that I know of," she thought about it. "No. I'm sure there weren't anyone. Reborn-san was the last person who dropped by her house but I don't think he knew that there was no one in there. He then came here asking for whom to contact. He said he didn't know who else to contact when I said that her immediate family was all gone, he told me what happened. I heard she fainted at work before she was pronounced dead in the hospital."

The man nodded. His hand went to the pocket of his jacket from which he pulled out a card. He handed the card to her. "Thank you for your cooperation. If you have any more information, please don't hesitate to call me."

The old woman took the card and stared at it. "I knew you look familiar!" Her expression took on a worried one when she looked back at him. "Did something happen to Miwa-chan?"

The man's lips twitched slightly downwards. "Do you not see the news?"

"No, I'm afraid not." She fell silent. She shook her head. "I'm sure whatever it is, you guys will find whoever did it. You guys helped this town a lot. I've never felt safer." She paused for a few moments. "Anyway, would you like some persimmons?"

* * *

Namimori Park had always been a famous location for its many cherry blossom trees. There was a myth that whoever was lowered into the ground under the trees, they would be reincarnated as a better person. Of course, there was no proof of the credibility of the myth. As a result, many have wished to be buried among those many trees with the unclear hope to be reborn as a better person.

However, the town council decided that it would be bad if pleasure park-goers and grave visitors were to be in the same place at the same time. Hence, they separated an area specifically for burials and the other for park visitors. People from outside who had been to the town had been critical of the decision to the point that they were petitions signed to stop the decision but since the townspeople themselves were not against it, there was nothing that they could do.

"Kufufu, I didn't take you as an adventurous person, Tsunayoshi-kun," Mukuro pointed out as he finished scanning the area. "You buried her here so publicly."

The brunet just continued to scan the area beyond the yellow tape. He glanced at Mukuro and at the graveyard behind him. "This area was supposedly off limits. No one can book a space in this part. Otou-san already booked the whole lot." His voice took a lower note as he stared at the dugout space. "Exactly why I wonder why someone else managed to register a body buried in this particular lot."

"Why didn't you bury her with the others?"

Tsuna smiled fondly. "She was different. Special. She actually requested to be buried at the local cemetery in her neighbourhood but we decided to give her the next best thing."

Mukuro was amused. "Oya? You're a weird one. You take requests from your prisoners?"

"They weren't prisoners."

"Kufufu, whatever you say."

They were quiet for a bit.

"That Sugihara Mugi guy. What do you think about him?" Mukuro questioned.

"That he's one of Otou-san's men. But that's absurd because Otou-san would never put his company in jeopardy like that. And then I thought that someone out there saw us burying her and decided to help which is, again, obviously impossible. At least, one thing I'm sure about is the fact that Sugihara Mugi doesn't exist. I knew the people around her, her background story and all those details. She doesn't have any relative." He stared listlessly ahead at the forest in front of him.

Mukuro followed his gaze. "How about the other bodies?"

Tsuna gave a wry laugh. "I can't exactly just go to the town council and list out the names of my mothers to ask for the details. I might as well just surrender myself to the police had they found out the name of the unregistered bodies."

"I'm thinking..." Mukuro stepped forward and touched the yellow tape and lifted it over his head as he ducked in.

"I don't think that's a good idea," Tsuna informed Mukuro as the older man reached the crime scene.

Mukuro waved him off. "Did you keep track of when they died and when you buried them?"

Tsuna rolled his eyes. "Right, I guess I should start doing that. Clearly no, Mukuro. I may be a meticulous person but that's just risky."

"It might not actually coincide with the date it was registered," Mukuro told him, half-ignoring Tsuna's sarcastic reply while staring into the hole. "You can't totally rule out that this Sugihara Mugi is a real person. The name might be a pseudonym but there might be a real guy out who's just using the pseudonym so that no one can track him."

"There was a picture," Tsuna informed him. "The town council has a very strong security."

"Kufufu. A picture to match the name. The same picture might be used for every one of his registrations, Tsunayoshi-kun. Or forbid it all, the man might have undergone a plastic surgery to hide his face everytime. A picture isn't a DNA test. Picture lies but those natural strands don't."

Tsuna thought about it. Eventually, he decided to follow Mukuro within the tape. "I get what you're implying. You're saying that this Sugihara Mugi may be the perpetrator. I get how you got to this but this is the first cannibalism case."

"The only one that was found, you mean."

Tsuna's eyes narrowed at the crouching man.

"It might also be because he's trying to widen his options. You know, live ones and dead ones. Maybe the other ones were alive and he ate them clean. The bones might have been grinded into ashes."

"That's sick."

"Kufufu, but these things happen."

Tsuna shook his head, getting rid of the thought. "Imaginations are only speculative. If there's no evidence, then you can't really say that it's true."

"Evidence can be made. You can't totally rule that fact out either."

* * *

Alaude decided to stride right into the town council as soon as he had those revelations made to him. He was demanding on every detail about Sugihara Mugi from one of the unfortunate employees when a hand was put onto his shoulder. He needed to know if the man actually existed. There were too many things that did not match the information they initially got.

He would have shrugged it off had the old lady be the only one who said it but almost everyone else in the area were saying the same thing. The address that he received pointed him to that particular house beside the old lady's so he was sure that he did not get the wrong place. He did round the other neighbourhood nearby, thinking that it might be an input mistake but there was no other family named Sugihara.

"That's okay, Hiroki-kun. I'll deal with him."

The employee called Hiroki nodded, still terrified by the detective who was grilling him for information that he was not allowed to give. At the look that his employer gave, he placed the 'closed' sign on the counter and rushed away.

Alaude shrugged off the hand from his shoulder and turned to the man. The man's dark purple lips were pulled into a grin, a chained piercing connected to his lips and ears.

"Fancy meeting you here, Alaude. Lucky for you, I'm here to your rescue. To what do I owe the pleasure?"

Alaude glared. "The person who registered the burial location doesn't exist."

The purple-haired man's eyes widened. "Oh." His eyebrows scrunched together. "Is that why you're here? To get his details?"

That was a stupid question that Alaude did not bother to reply.

"Hiroki-kun was telling the truth, unfortunately. There's no way we can give you that kind of information so easily." Alaude glared at him. "Oh, don't glare at me. I've seen worse."

"You should provide all information when is asked in pursuit of justice."

"And we're here to protect the privacy of our citizens." His hand grabbed his chin in a thinking pose. "But if you have a legitimate suspicion, then we may be able to compromise. Do you have that? A legitimate suspicion?"

Alaude glared. "The man doesn't exist. That should be suspicious enough, Arcobaleno."

The man made a bleeping sound. "Not good enough. Suspicions are fictional at best unless backed by evidence. There has to be actual grounds, not notional ones. You can call me Skull, by the way."

"This Sugihara Mugi doesn't exist," he repeated through gritted teeth. "I asked around the victim's neighbourhood which this Sugihara Mugi supposedly lived in. And there were no other family with the surname."

Skull shook his head adamantly. "That's still not enough. Let me tell you something," he glanced around before settling onto Alaude's icy blue eyes. "People here often give their permanent addresses only. They won't give their temporary ones since they might leave as soon as they stay. So that might be the case with this Sugihara Mugi."

"No one in the neighbourhood knows him."

"Shocking. Not everyone knows everyone."

Alaude was a slip away from beating the information from the other man. "I'll have Giotto write a formal request to ask for Sugihara Mugi's details."

"You're finally thinking the right thing," Skull smiled widely. "Do that and we'll see if we can comply."

Alaude just huffed and turned on his heels.

"Don't get your panties in a bunch, Alaude! It's called procedure!"

* * *

Skull dropped a bag full of snacks together with a cup of espresso in front of the two men disturbing the block-stacking game they were playing. "Jenga? Seriously? You guys made me go out to buy these for your lazy ass just so that you can play a game of jenga?"

"Shut up, slave." Reborn admonished. "I don't mind reminding you about your position."

"Yeah, kora," Colonello agreed. A grin broke out on his face as he managed to push a particularly difficult block out. "A slave should know his position."

Skull rolled his eyes at his two personal tormentors wondering why he was even working with these two sadistic bastards. He watched as Reborn effortlessly got a brick out.

"I saw Alaude on my way out," he said just as Colonello was pulling one out.

The blonde in the military getup hissed as the blocks of bricks suddenly fell. He glared harshly at Reborn who updated the score on the small whiteboard they had standing on the desk. Skull recognized it as the one he wrote his reminder notes on.

"What the hell, guys?!" He tried to grab the board but Reborn placed it further away.

"What the hell, you!" Colonello retorted. "You just broke my chance at a winning streak."

Skull narrowed his eyes at Colonello but at the blonde's sharper glare, he backed down.

"What does he want now?" Reborn questioned while rearranging the blocks into a tower.

"He was demanding for more details on Sugihara Mugi," he mumbled while trying to remember if there was anything important on the board that he needed to do. "He was asking around the neighbourhood and came to the conclusion that Sugihara Mugi doesn't exist."

"There's a picture, kora," Colonello pointed out with his eyes focused on Reborn's hand just in case the other man cheated. "Why didn't you persuade him that that is evidence that this dude exists?"

Skull gape at him. "Are you kidding? This is Alaude we're talking about. He won't stop until he gets what he wants." Slowly, a victorious grin emerged on his face. "I managed to get him to go away though. I asked him to prepare a set of reasonable grounds."

The two men ignored what he said and started a new round of jenga.

Skull's eyebrow twitched, irritated. "You guys do know that we'll get in trouble if we don't cooperate with them, right? To be honest, I actually think that they do have a reasonable ground." He started to panic. "Oh my God, why did I agree working with you people? My career will go downhill like this."

"Quit the theatrics. We'll just do what we usually do."

* * *

 **AN: Here's Chapter 4! Thank you to those you reviewed, alerted and favorited! This slightly longer chapter is dedicated to you guys!**

 **Okay, so before you guys let me know about your feelings for the turnout of this chapter, I would like to clarify that no, the thing about Tsuna in this chapter is not a plot twist. I've hinted a lot on it actually, lol.**

 **Chapter 1 held probably the biggest hint on Tsuna's secrets and mentality. I'm sure some of you realized this but there were not one but two corpses in the first chapter. I'm not gonna say where the other one is.**

 **In the second chapter, the hint appeared at the beginning of the chapter and Mukuro internal monologue actually helped pointing it out. And then there was this sentence:**

 _ **"I signed my deal with the devil a long time ago."**_

 **This suggested the fact that Tsuna was not as innocent as some thought he was.**

 **And then there's the third chapter. There was that scene in the interrogation/meeting room. Imagine placing a person who knew that he did something wrong in a room designed for questioning wrongdoers.**

 **There is also a similarity between the corpse in Chapter 1 and Sugihara Miwa (as mentioned in the last part of Chapter 3). I'll let you guys find this out by yourselves, hahaha.**

 **Well there's that. Now, on with reviews' reply!**

 **To iKitsuNeko, Tsuna is certainly interested now, lol. As for Takeshi, you're on the right track but there's something else...which will be explained in due time.**

 **To Tetsuya Dragneel, yess, Tsuna knew her! Very well, in fact. Hahaha, I got you. I read my fair share as well. I've always been interested in this genre.**

 **To Caleo Ignacium, hello there! Ooooh, I haven't read that one! I might give it a try. Well, in this fic, Tsuna does not have his Intuition but he do have a very sharp mind. As for the supernatural part, there may be some sprinkles of it. Maybe...**

 **Please leave me your thoughts in that review box on your way out, guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I am simply borrowing the characters for this story. This fanfic will be as original as it can be. Similarities with other fanfics are not intended. The story is not related to any real story and similarities are simply coincidence. Reference to real life places are just to set the setting. This is strictly a work of fiction.**

 **Warning: Dark theme and OOC-ness. This fic also contains hints of bendable morals which might not be comfortable for some people.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

When G got back in town on Sunday, he did not expect to see Giotto, Alaude and Ugetsu huddling around the lone computer in the work station. It was not that this was an unusual sight for them to be here in the station on a Sunday. They literally had no off days lately what was with all the shit going on in Namimori. However, it was very unusual that Alaude would voluntarily sat down with the other two taking part in what looked like a fairly important conversation with a bowl of persimmons in front of them.

Ugetsu was the one who saw him first and unsurprisingly, his concentration was temporarily broken. "You're back, G!"

"Welcome home, G." Giotto.

G tried to ignore the persimmons but it was proving to be difficult. "Why was I not invited to this persimmon party?"

Ugetsu's laugh was tired. Giotto let out a frustrated sigh. Alaude gave a low growl.

G got his answer. Throwing the briefcase he had with him under his desk, he questioned. "How bad is the situation right now?" He grabbed one of the folders on his table and flipped the front cover.

"You might want to ignore that. Apparently the details in that are unreliable," Giotto advised, bringing G's attention to him. He was so used to following Giotto's command that he placed the folder back without question. "Alaude," he nodded at the other blonde, "Found that that person in that file doesn't exist. No one in the neighbourhood knows him so unless he's invisible, then we have to completely ignore that."

G pulled the chair behind his desk with him as he approached them. "Fill me in from the start."

G listened with rapt attention as Giotto updated him on the things happening. G, with satisfaction, was informed that the body was indeed a few weeks old as he suspected. The body was dug and it was assumed that the criminal might have kept the body for a couple of days for consumption. However, the problem right now was that their main lead, which happened to be the supposed stepbrother of the victim, might not even exist. The sucky thing was that the council refused to give them any information unless they send a formal request with all the proper grounds for the request.

"Okay. So what exactly is the fucking problem here?"

Giotto rubbed his temple but it was Alaude who replied. "The Arcobaleno wouldn't accept 'non-existent' as a valid reason. Don't waste any more time and continue writing that letter, Giotto."

Giotto sighed. "Look Alaude. We'll be needing G's help in this. He's the only one with proper knowledge about how to deal with this things. We can't be too harsh," he looked pointedly at Alaude, "or too direct," he moved his stare to Ugetsu who smiled sheepishly. Giotto stared at the screen. "And I'm seriously at my wit's end right now."

G suddenly became the subject of Giotto's pleading stare.

He could never deny his best friend.

* * *

"How was the trial?" Giotto asked as soon as the others left the station when they finally managed to word the request in a civilized manner.

"They're trying for fucking damages now from the State for the amount of distress and trauma the victim must be in based on the news about their kid was told."

G was a bit surprised that Giotto did not bother to reprimand him for the slip on the curse and say some shit like they had to respect the victim's immediate family's feelings. His friend must have a lot something on his mind.

G brought a hand down his face as if that could get rid of the exhaustion.

"Sorry about that. I just thought that those assholes in Tokyo would settle this problem themselves without bringing us into it after they sent us here." He lit up a cigarette. "We have a lot of cases here already that needs to be solved. Tokyo might be fucked up but this town is worse, seriously." He took one long drag. He chuckled humourlessly. "Sometimes I think that the people brought the town's infamous cheesy tagline to a whole new meaning. Unexpected relics. Yeah, I fucking see them now."

"G," Giotto finally reprimanded. The blonde shook his head at the obvious defiance in his friend's eyes. He chose to change the topic instead. "Alaude finally picked up someone to work with him. He's no longer working alone."

"About fucking time. How did you guys manage to get the brat to work here?" He gave a stare. "I find it hard to fucking believe that Alaude would simply settle for someone else."

Giotto smiled but it did not reach his eyes. "Reborn bargained with the kid. So we might be owing him one now."

"Oh no," G immediately rejected. "Not that fucking devil in human skin."

"At least, he hasn't called in for the favour." Giotto tried to be optimistic.

G's eyes flashed in disagreement and Giotto knew exactly what he was thinking. "That guy will never forget that we owe him one." He sighed tiredly.

* * *

Tsuna was just walking down the stairs of his school on Monday when the silhouette of the familiar tall well-dressed man caught his eyes. His legs halted mid-step. Every nerve in his pore was telling him to turn back and go back up. His mind screamed at him to avert his gaze away from the man. With the knowledge that the dark eyed man was following his every movement though, he refused to relent to his desires.

With a calm he did not feel, he let his halted foot met the ground. He continued his steps as if he was just surprised to see the man there. He saw the man smirked at his moment of hesitation.

Thousands of conclusions were coming to his head and none of them sent a good feeling down his spines. His mind was riling with whatever the man was planning until a tall blonde in a military green garb approached the man.

Instantly, the man's attention on him was averted and Tsuna was insignificant once again.

Tsuna did not see it when the blonde eyed his back as he walked towards the opposite direction, shaking his head with a smile that looked so out of place with his usual attitude.

* * *

Tsuna found himself arriving at the station earlier than usual. He did not bother acknowledging Lampo who was obviously snoring at the reception table with an electric fam blowing directly in front of his face. He went straight to the workstation and was greeted by Alaude standing behind Giotto peering at the computer screen in front of him with a defined scowl in front of him.

"Well. If I don't know them, I would've thought that they never refused us in the first place." Giotto offhandedly voiced. "Good for you, isn't it, Alaude?"

"Print those," Alaude demanded. "I'll have the little animal look over it later."

"Erm," Tsuna started, announcing his arrival. "What is it that I have to do?"

As expected, Giotto was the only one who greeted him. "Hello, Tsunayoshi. You're early today." The professional tone that automatically seeped into his voice was a far cry from the casual way he talked to Alaude just a few seconds earlier.

Tsuna walked to his usual desk which was supposed to be Ugetsu's but since the man rarely dropped by the station, it was his for now.

The printer sputtered to life and Alaude immediately went towards it.

Tsuna turned back his attention to Giotto. "Did you guys find anything while I was gone?"

Giotto urged him to come forward to his table which Tsuna obeyed without question. Almost simultaneously, Alaude placed the printed documents on Giotto's desk in front of Tsuna.

Both of the officers did not say anything but Tsuna knew exactly what they wanted him to do. He picked up the documents and at first glance, the top page looked exactly as the one he saw on G's desk.

"Do you see the difference with the previous documents?"

Tsuna did not even question how Alaude knew that he saw the other documents. He was sure that he took a peek when no one else was in the room. He made a mental note to be more careful next time.

Admittedly, he would not have realized the difference had Alaude did not mention it. He had assumed that the documents were one and the same and was only acting as if he had not seen it before.

However, on the fifth look, his brain slowly processed the different area name and postcode on the address section. Tsuna blinked.

"The address is changed."

His focus sharpened and he scanned everything else more closely. His mind was screaming at the identity of this ghost of a male who supposedly registered the body that he buried with his own hands.

"This area...Isn't it in a completely opposite side of the town?" Tsuna stared at the officer in front of him, not understanding. "What suddenly brought about the change? It's not recent is it?"

"We contacted the Arcobaleno." Giotto nudged his chin to the pieces of evidence in Tsuna's hands. "Apparently, they forgot to update Sugihara Mugi's detail. They were unable to give any more information but they advised that we should talk to this Mugi ourselves to find out why no one in the victim's neighbourhood knew about him."

Tsuna's eyes lit up. "No one in the neighbourhood knew him?" He repeated, more for his sake than anyone else's. "Then does that not mean that he doesn't exist in the first place?"

He did not miss the approving look he got from Alaude.

"Alaude thought so too. But we can't really make a baseless conclusion. We can't risk making the wrong one."

Tsuna frowned before an idea came to him. "When you go to this Sugihara Mugi, can I follow with?"

He received a stern look from Giotto. "I've made it clear before, Tsunayoshi."

Tsuna gave a tight smile. "Right." He turned to Alaude. "I'll say not to just follow this one lead though. If this Sugihara does exist, I find it weird that he would bury and unbury someone and threw her in a completely different place from where he first buried her."

The two officers' face was neutral as they let him voice his thoughts.

"You sound so sure that this Mugi guy didn't do anything." Expectedly, Giotto was the one who questioned his suggestion. Alaude grunted in disagreement at what Giotto said and Tsuna was relieved that Giotto's sharp stare was directed at Alaude for a second. "If we're not going to chase this one lead that we do have, how do you suggest we follow this nonexistent lead of yours?"

Tsuna bit back a smile. He and Mukuro had planned for this conversation yesterday. It did not go exactly as they imagined it would but it still reached the same goal.

"I'm not saying that we should ignore the only lead that we do have," Tsuna righted himself. He allowed a sheepish look to appear on his face. "I went to Namimori Park yesterday." He could see the reprimand from Giotto coming but he stopped him before he did. "And I was thinking that someone would have reported it if someone dragged a body from the graveyard area and not to the graveyard area. So I thought that there might be a different path." He willed himself to look at Alaude straight in the eyes, ignoring the unsteady beat of his heart.

He did not know what was going on behind the emotionless icy no bullshit look of his direct officer. Tsuna had usually been given odd jobs in relation to the case. Him suggesting something like this could be seen as an act against his superior or if he was lucky, a simple suggestion from a fresh amateur mind with a fresh outlook on things.

Alaude closed his eyes momentarily. When he opened them, Tsuna saw the unnaturally sharp focus that it usually held when his mind was set on something. "You can accompany me to the town council. We'll get details about the land."

Giotto looked like he was going to say something against it but Alaude cut him off. "As far as I'm concerned, getting documental information is still well within his job description."

Tsuna was glad when Giotto said nothing to that.

* * *

Tsuna was becoming increasingly tense at the amount of ire coming from Alaude as they were forced to wait in the waiting area. In a nervous gesture, his eyes kept getting attracted to the wall clock hanging above the door to the room of the person in front of them. If they were going to wait another minute, he was sure that Alaude might just enter the office and demand whoever was in with whoever was in charge of the lands here in Namimori out of the room.

Fortunately for Tsuna, before Alaude did something that might prevent them from getting the information that they wanted, the door to the room was opened and to his surprise, Timoteo, his University's Dean, walked out of the office. He immediately stood up from where he was sitting and went to greet the older man.

"Timoteo-sama, nice to see you here."

There was genuine surprise on Timoteo's face at the sight of the brunet. "Oh, Sawada Tsunayoshi-kun. Hello." He spied Alaude who was probably glaring at him as if he had just deliberately wasted his time. "Here on an official business?"

Tsuna moved slightly to the side as Alaude stepped into the office without waiting to be called in. He heard a distinct, 'Wait until you're called, kora,' before he laughed uneasily in response to Timoteo, not expecting that even he knew about Tsuna's current job. "Yes, actually."

Timoteo laughed heartily. "Well, don't let this old man hold you for another minute."

Tsuna nodded his apology before heading into the room.

* * *

It looked like Alaude did not waste any time and demanded for the person in charge to immediately provide him with the details of the untouched land beyond Namimori park.

By the time Tsuna received permission to seat from Alaude, Tsuna was startled to see the familiar blonde guy he saw with Reborn earlier peeked from behind the computer to grin at Tsuna.

"You must be Sawada Tsunayoshi, kora," he greeted enthusiastically. "The poor brat Reborn roped into joining the police force." He extended his hand for Tsuna. "The name's Colonello."

Tsuna greeted back politely. "Hello Colonello-san."

Colonello placed a still warm printed paper on the table. To Alaude, he said, "You can't bring this out of this room, kora. But this is the map for the area around Namimori Park and Namimori Playground."

Alaude grabbed the paper before Tsuna could even take a peek. He scanned the map while Tsuna awkwardly sat there, smiling every time his eyes caught with Colonello's.

The map was suddenly in front of Tsuna's face and at the expectant look on his superior's face, he reluctantly grab it.

"I will let Sawada Tsunayoshi ask questions of what he wants to know from you," Alaude declared.

Tsuna believed that it was normal to feel nervous at this development. He felt like he was under the gaze of two hungry hawks determined to catch him on doing the wrong thing so that they could immediately prey on him.

Tsuna knew exactly what Alaude was doing. He was assessing the skills which he claimed he could see from how Tsuna analyzed his sources for his winning essay. He wanted to see if it was a fluke. If Tsuna was actually cheating. Not to mention that his action earlier when Giotto and Alaude gave him those documents did not show his sharp sight for identifying the details.

He was nervous but he would never back down from a challenge. Especially not from something that might put his academic prowess in peril.

Determinedly, he tried to burn the image into his mind. He was never good at geography but he reminded himself that he did not need to worry about that for now. He was trying to find a path secluded from public eyes.

Covering almost the right half of the map was the Namimori Park complete with the clear lines seperating the graveyard from the park itself. East Southeast from the middle of the graveyard was the Namimori Lake and North Northwest from it was the forest he was staring into. The water stretched to beyond what could be seen on the very specific map but at the bottom of the paper, there was a long almost straight line coloured dark blue with the letters spelling out highway spread beneath it with what looked like the symbol for a bridge on the far right side just where the lake seemed to end. The area marked Namimori Playground covered less than a quarter of the top left side of the paper and everything else was forest green.

"Is this map updated?" Tsuna questioned.

"Just a few months ago, kora," was Colonello's offhanded reply. "I make sure that updates on land maps are made every six months." He smirked. "I don't make mistakes like the others, kora."

"How reflective is it?" Tsuna wanted to know.

"Of what exactly, kora?"

Tsuna positioned the map on the table so that Alaude and Colonello could see. "Here." He dragged his finger from the forest at the edge of the lake just above the graveyard to just around the line seperating the forest from the playground. "How reflective is it of this area?"

Colonello's lips formed an amused line and Tsuna could have sworn that his eyes twinkled. Tsuna glanced unsurely at Alaude whose face was unreadable as ever.

"Be more specific with your words, kora. I'm not a mind reader."

Tsuna was gambling on a speculation this time. "You said it's updated every six month. Is there a chance that this area might be different years ago." Colonello still would not answer so he tried to word his thoughts. "Is there like a secret path in it?"

Colonello looked disappointed alerting Tsuna that he just asked the wrong question. This time, he did not dare to look at Alaude.

"I'm afraid not, kora." The disappointment was not obvious from his voice but Tsuna would not let himself be deluded that it was not there in the first place.

"Was there ever a case where a part of that area was cleared?" Alaude did not miss a beat with asking that particular question and Tsuna realized a little bit too late that that was the exact question he should have asked. He mentally berated himself. "Considering the amount of cases of abandoned lands and buildings in Namimori, there might be a possibility."

Reluctantly, Colonello averted his attention to Alaude. A slow smirk came to his face. "Now, why would I provide you with that information, kora?"

Alaude's expression did not change. "For the pursuit of justice."

Colonello gave a hearty laugh as if Alaude just said the best joke he had ever heard. "Well, then. I guess you can confirm this with any one of the older citizens, kora, but there was once when the area was cleared. The trees and plants managed to grow back normally though."

"What about a request for planning permissions?"

"As for planning permissions, kora," he pulled another document from under his table for which he earned a glare from Alaude. "We never received a request for it. It was an illegal site so we ordered an injunction to stop building anything at all costs."

Alaude was not amused. "You could've just saved our time and provide us with these information right from the very beginning."

"Now where's the fun in that, kora?" He handed the piece of evidence to Tsuna to examine. He eyed the brunet again who had been unusually quiet since his mistake earlier. "You look like you have a question, brat."

"The lake," Tsuna started quietly. "Does it just go straight ahead like that?"

"If you're talking about if there's any way to get to the playground through there, then no, kora." A mischievous glint came to his eyes. "Didn't you guys know that the lake beyond the graveyard area is haunted? There were reports years ago of missing people who unfortunately went past that invisible line, kora." He smirked at Alaude. "I heard your predecessors just left them be and see them as unresolved cases."

"Then," Tsuna started again. "Did you guys check? How far they had gone into the construction?" At Colonello's piercing stare, he elaborated. "You said you never received any request. For you guys to be aware of it, there must be some kind of progress."

A slow smirk appeared on the blonde's face. "I'm afraid I did not check it personally, kora. But," he eyed Alaude briefly. "I heard that you guys have a suspicion for Sugihara Mugi. Quite a luck, isn't it, kora? Your lead turns out to be the land broker for this illegal disposition."

Tsuna shared a look with Alaude as their suspicion that this Mugi guy did not actually exist slowly crumbled.

"But I guess if you want to check out the land, then you're very welcomed, kora. But I cannot give you any more information than this. The exact position of the land was never recorded so you guys might as well just look for it yourself."

* * *

The drive back to the station was tense. There was no other words to say it. When they arrived back, the only person who bothered greeting them was Giotto who looked more worried than he was when they left earlier.

"How did it go?" He questioned them.

"It went well," was Alaude's only answer.

Giotto did not bother proding any further but that answer was enough for Tsuna.

Enough for his mistake twice today to disturb his tranquil thoughts. Enough for the thought of this actually existing Sugihara Mugi do babble all his dark secrets as he explained why he registered the burial place to slowly break him.

Just enough for Tsuna's mind to crumble in place.

Because well was not enough but was just a neutral way to say that it could have been better.

* * *

"I think he meant that as a compliment," Ugetsu's voice broke into his thoughts that were trying to break down how Alaude solved the previous cases.

"Hmm?" was Tsuna's only reply to the man hovering over the table on the other side of his, not bothering to lift his eyes.

"Seriously kid, you need to stop sulking." Ugetsu grabbed onto the four files stacked messily on Tsuna's left hand side.

"I'm not sulking," Tsuna retorted finally looking at the man. He belatedly realized that they were the only ones in the room. He wondered where Giotto had gone off to.

Ugetsu's hand reached for the file in front of Tsuna that was open to a picture of a white substance inside a tiny zipped bag. "You are. Anyone can see from the way you're suddenly studying how he does a proper investigation." Ugetsu shook his head. "A word of advice, Tsunayoshi. Don't take whatever Alaude said to heart. He's socially awkward so he doesn't really know what and what not to say."

Tsuna sighed.

"Do you even know what time it is?" Ugetsu nodded at the clock when Tsuna gave him a blank stare. "It's almost six. In the morning."

Tsuna's gaze was downcast. "Sorry," he apologized. "I'm not good dealing with my mistakes."

Ugetsu smiled understandingly. "Trust me, kid. No one truly is. At least not me." He paused. "Now, pack your things up and go back home and rest please. We'll need you to be here this evening. Alaude has the visit to Sugihara Mugi's place planned for today. You might be interested to know about his findings."

Tsuna stared at him, still not encouraged.

"Now kid, first cases are always the hardest," he told Tsuna. "I wasn't so smooth with dealing with the media my first time. Actually," he reminisced with a nostalgic smile, "I almost got suspended since I almost blurted out confidential details that we agreed not to touch on beforehand had it not been for Giotto's quick thinking."

"Sounds like you guys have been together for a while."

"Oh, we have," Ugetsu grinned.

Tsuna finally moved to pack his stuffs. It was only when he got off his seat while slinging his backpack on one shoulder that he dared to ask. "You guys look like very accomplished officers. I've seen the files of the cases you guys worked on. You guys could've aimed bigger if you wished." Tsuna's eyebrows scrunched in thought. "So why Namimori?"

A weird expression came to Ugetsu's face and just as Tsuna was about to retract his question, he answered.

"Even though we got full control of this town, kid, it's not like we have much choice."

Something inside Tsuna jumped at the vague but honest answer but at the look on Ugetsu's face, he dared not to push his luck.

So Tsuna just smiled and did as Ugetsu suggested. It was a good thing that his classes were cancelled for the day.

* * *

 **AN: Honestly, I was actually done with this chapter on Monday and was finished with polishing it early Tuesday morning. I was going to upload it on Saturday or on Sunday but I decided against it. Didn't want to keep the suspense for too long, kekeke. So here's Chapter 5!**

 **Again, I would like to thank you for the reviews, favorites and alerts, guys! You guys are the best.**

 **To iKitsuNeko, Shew, and Tetsuya Dragneel, I love reading your theories! You guys are good. You're actually somewhere along the line. Whether you guys are right or not, let's wait for it, hahaha.**

 **Do leave me a review on your way out guys! I would love to hear every one of your theories. At least before the next chapter is uploaded either some time this weekend or next week. ;)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I am simply borrowing the characters for this story. This fanfic will be as original as it can be. Similarities with other fanfics are not intended. The story is not related to any real story and similarities are simply coincidence. Reference to real life places are just to set the setting. This is strictly a work of fiction.**

 **Warning: Dark theme and OOC-ness. This fic also contains hints of bendable morals which might not be comfortable for some people.**

* * *

 **Chapter 6**

 **BODY FOUND IN NAMIMORI PLAYGROUND SAID TO BE A VICTIM OF CANNIBALISM**

Tsuna eyed the headline on the newspaper. His eyes traced up to the reader, silently debating whether or not he should open a conversation. He saw the man's hand tense causing him to wonder if the man could feel his gaze. Pitying the man and slightly amused, he purposefully averted the gaze to outside the vehicle's window. He saw the man visibly relaxed.

"What do you think of that case?" Tsuna suddenly questioned.

The man, as expected, was surprised. He closed his paper and blinked with wide eyes at Tsuna. He was old, old enough to be someone's grandfather but not enough to have so many grandchildren. There were a set of crow's feet beside each of his eyes and his forehead was wrinkled.

Tsuna smiled forlornly. "That headline case. It's a bit sad isn't it?"

The man turned the paper in his hands to see what the brunet was talking about before meeting Tsuna's eyes once again. "Are you talking about the murder case, kid?"

Tsuna could sense that the man was getting suspicious at his question. Effortlessly, he covered himself with the truth, "I know the victim."

"Oh," the man responded, suddenly feeling awkward. "Um…my condolences."

"Thank you." Tsuna suddenly smiled brightly. "Are you stopping at the next street?"

The man slowly nodded.

"Oh, are you visiting someone?"

"I live there, kid," the man said, his voice not hiding his wary but not stopping himself from answering either.

"Lucky," Tsuna exclaimed. He pulled out a piece of worn out paper that looked like it was torn out of a notebook. "Do you know where this place is? I'm actually dropping by there too to visit a friend of mine. It's actually my first time coming to this side of the town. And you see," he pulled out his phone. "The network connection is almost non-existent."

* * *

Alaude would not admit it but he was in disbelief when he saw Sugihara Mugi opening the door to his tiny rented apartment. He came to the place with the idea that he would not be able to meet the man but he was proven wrong when he saw the man from the picture in the flesh.

He looked a bit different from the picture on his council's registration. Whilst he looked more presentable in the picture, now there were dark circles under his already droopy eyes and his lips were chapped. His almost ghostly features almost made him unrecognizable but Alaude knew that it was the same man from in the picture if the elfish ears were any indication.

The man did not even look surprised to see Alaude when he appeared at the front door. He was more resigned than anything.

Alaude stared at the cup of tea set up in front of him but did not bother to touch it. He waited until the man sat down across him before he lifted his piercing stare to the man's dull pair.

"You're expecting me," Alaude concluded. "Why?"

Sugihara Mugi laughed tiredly, his voice emotionless. "My stepsister's body was eaten. I could only wait for the police to ask me questions about it since I'm the only family left." He stared listlessly. "That said, I was also the one who registered her body. By right, I should have been the one who would be contacted first."

'Detached,' Alaude corrected himself. The man was not emotionless but was just emotionally detached.

"You weren't on their family register," Alaude calmly pointed out. "No one in the neighbourhood knew about you."

There was some kind of a trigger in Alaude's words as a crazed laugh escaped him. "They did that. They really did that. Of course they did. Those prideful geezers." His eyes, still unnaturally dull, stared into Alaude in an unfocused manner. "Of course," he breathed deeply. "The moment I fell, they just get rid of me like that. Just because I'm not theirs. That asshole should have at least respected my late mother's wishes."

There were so many things that he was revealing at once but none of it made any sense to Alaude.

"You're implying that you're being removed from the family register," Alaude effortlessly broke his tirade. "Were you not in good terms with your stepfather and mother before they got into that accident?"

"Mother?" Sugihara Mugi looked at him in disbelief. "What do you mean by mother? That bastard remarried his ex-wife as soon as my mother died."

"Then you're not on good terms with Miwa?"

"God, no," he sounded disgusted at the thought. He sounded calmer. "That girl was spoil, super spoilt." He suddenly had an epiphany. "You think I ate her?" His face turned purple at the statement.

"No, I was trying to understand why no one in the neighbourhood knows about you," Alaude calmly explained.

"No, no, no. You think I ate her." The crazed look returned. "Of course you would think that. It's about the registration of burial, isn't it? Some guy who did not appear in the register buried her. That's why you suspected me. Because I was the only one who knew where I buried her." He stood up and started pacing. "I knew I shouldn't have buried her." He pointed at Alaude. "You don't have the right to ask. This is illegal. You don't have a warrant."

"That's why I said that you're not a suspect." Alaude glared at him. "Sit," he demanded.

"You don't have a warrant," he repeated again. "You-"

"Calm down and sit." Alaude demanded again.

Sugihara Mugi reluctantly relented. "I did not eat her. I may be living poorly but I am not that desperate. I may be going crazy from hunger sometimes but I would not go so far as to eat someone's flesh." He gagged in reflex.

Alaude ignored that he tried to supress his retching with a hand against his mouth. "I do not think that you're at all involved with this crime but if you keep acting like this, you're giving me a reason to."

The man's eyes widened at Alaude's words. He tried taking a few deep breaths to calm himself but he gave up after the fourth one. "I did not kill her," he repeated again.

"That's not the reason why I'm here," Alaude countered. "I'm here because you're a connected person. I wanted to know why you're not on the register and you answered. Now tell me about the land that you help developed without the council's permission."

Sugihara Mugi immediately looked like he was on the verge of hyperventilating now. He let out a choked laugh. "That case was closed. I thought it was closed." He panted through his mouth. "We stopped the development. The council said that they won't chase us on it as long as we stop developing the land."

"They did. I want you to confirm it to me where it is."

"You know where it is."

"I know you heard what I say." Alaude replied, sternly.

"Near the playground," Sugihara Mugi replied, almost breathless. "I don't want to talk about this. That project robbed me out of my life."

"You just need to answer my question."

His head snapped towards Alaude. "That's the - !" At Alaude's glare, he took back what he was going to say.

"How far did the project proceed?"

"I was just the land broker. I do not know - "

"I can put you into custody if you do not cooperate with me willingly."

"A building was already made," he immediately said. "A building was made but it wasn't done. We had to abort the project so it should still be there because we literally left it just like that."

"So are you saying that there is an abandoned building in the middle of the forest," Alaude stated.

"Yes," Sugihara Mugi answered, thinking that it was a question, panting. "I don't think that it's totally abandoned though."

Alaude's eyes narrowed. "Continue."

* * *

Giotto did not expect to see the brunet sitting in his usual spot so early that evening. He did not think that the brunet would be awake and working so early considering the time that he left the station.

Tsunayoshi had Sugihara Mugi's file again this time. He knew how obsessed the brunet could be. Yesterday, he saw it with his own eyes. He was there when the brunet grabbed the old file from G's table and had it spread open in front of him together with the updated document. He was there when the brunet carefully drank in every single information in the folder as if it would help him live. He was also there when the brunet gave up those files and opened Alaude's old case files to study Alaude's method one by one.

He appreciated that Tsunayoshi was giving his all for this case but he knew that the younger male should not be so preoccupied with these cases since he was supposed to only help but not solve the case. They all knew that Tsunayoshi was a student with a bright future ahead of him and Giotto would hate himself if he took away that one thing that was actually going right in the brunet's life considering his family background.

They wanted him because they wanted his insights for whenever they could not see the obvious. Giotto knew Alaude. The man had a tendency lately to miss the simplest facts. Giotto understood that years of working in this field made them all think that everything could not have been that simple so they tend to focus on the more complex and unnecessary things. However, Tsunayoshi was different. His mind was still relatively fresh in this area and on top of that, he had the necessary personality.

Giotto saw Tsuna's submission as one of the judges for the competition. To say that he was not impressed would be a lie. The younger male's whole point was not to judge a book by its cover, to not think someone could have a criminal tendency just because they looked or showed a potential that they might be one. Ironically, he also said not to trust every documents related to that person since documents could simply be forged. He said that to find one, he would have to see it for his own eyes, heard it from his own ears and brought it out with his own lips. Criminality was a mental fact combined together with an act. If the happenings and thoughts added up, then a person could have acquired the required criminal mentality. It was just not right to say that it was set in stone.

Sawada Tsunayoshi had the personality of an excellent investigator and it coloured him and Alaude impressed. The fact still stayed though that he refused to have Sawada Tsunayoshi to directly give a hand to this investigation.

He did the first thing that came to his mind as he approached the brunet.

"You're not supposed to look at the current evidence without any supervision," Giotto admonished.

The brunet immediately looked up to him. Giotto was surprised to see that he did not look the least bit tired. In fact, the brunet's eyes looked sharp. Too focused for someone who did not have much sleep. Maybe it was just the coffee but for once, Giotto could see clearly why the younger male was the best student throughout the Criminology school and why he gained the attention of someone as difficult as Reborn and Alaude. The intelligence behind his eyes was undeniable.

"I'm sorry," the brunet said sincerely but Giotto's senses silently alerted him that he was actually not. There was a determination in his eyes that showed that he would defy any direct orders if it meant getting what he wanted. "But something's bothering me."

Giotto did not get swayed. "Did you find something worth noting?"

"No, but -"

"Then that's that. Close that file and we'll just wait for Alaude to get back from his investigations."

There was something in the brunet's posture that told Giotto that there was something that the brunet was not telling him. There was sureness in his stare that made Giotto believe that whatever the brunet was on, there was something backing it up. However, Giotto made it a personal goal not to get the brunet to be too involved.

He did not know what the brunet was thinking as his lips formed a straight line but the ire the brunet was feeling was obvious.

He had just sat behind his desk when the brunet got up to receive a call he was receiving.

* * *

Tsuna found himself sitting on the same swing he did last time as he stared at the forest from the playground. His attention was soon attracted by the clinking of metals against each other. He was not surprised to see his direct superior walking towards where he was sitting and beyond until he reached the forest. Tsuna immediately got off the swing and quickly followed him.

Alaude glanced at his attire. "Good. You're all ready for this."

Tsuna looked down on his clothes and wondered if Alaude was just being sarcastic. He had on his usual crisp shirt and black dress pants. He had his worn out dress shoes too. He really could not see what Alaude meant when he said that.

"For what?" Tsuna questioned.

"For your first job as an investigator."

Tsuna was unable to hide the smile on his face. "The Superintendent will be angry if he found out that I was not called to school by my lecturer but by you."

Alaude just 'hn'ed before effortlessly stepping over the fence. Tsuna gaped at the tall detective and he wondered how he could do the same without ripping off his pants. He tried lifting his leg but it barely went over the fence. He tiptoed on his other foot with his hands on the rail and pushed himself up. He managed to get himself over to the other side but it took longer than needed.

Alaude did not even bother waiting for him.

* * *

He managed to find Alaude somewhere in the dense greenery. The man was confidently walking through trees, pushing every branch that got into their way. Tsuna, being the smaller of the two, had a more difficult time.

"Do you know where we are going?" Tsuna believed that the man did considering how he looked like he knew his way. They had not been walking in straight line and truthfully Tsuna was worried that they might not know their way out. He eyed some of the twigs that Alaude forcefully ripped off the trees. His mind worked if that was enough to lead them back out of the forest.

"No," Alaude replied uncaringly.

Tsuna's mind immediately screamed warnings at him to go back to where they came from but a glance behind him was enough to persuade him that it was better to not separate right now. At least, if they were lost, they would be lost together.

"Do you…. Do you at least know the way back out?" Tsuna tried to confirm. At Alaude's following silence, it took a lot of him to not panic right then and there. Tsuna had never been too deep in the forest. Tsuna's mind usually work based on logic but Tsuna also believed that beings that he could not see existed around him. It was hard not to after knowing someone who claimed to have seen those things. They were deep within the forest and Tsuna heard that this was one of the most common places to get spirited away.

Seeing that Alaude would not answer his previous question, he asked another one to at least distract himself from his thought. "Then do you at least know what we should find?"

"A building."

Tsuna did not find that helpful at all. They were told that they might be a developed land but for there to be a building, it sounded almost impossible. If there even was one, it must be very underdeveloped and by now it should already be eroded due to the many years that had passed. "I don't think if there was a building, there would still be one."

Alaude kept quiet for a bit before decided to fill Tsuna in on a bit of the information that he managed to get. "Sugihara Mugi said that they stopped building after the council told them to. However, some of them who got thrown out of their house for getting involved in the case with no other means for a living developed the building enough using the materials that were left so that they could live in it."

Tsuna eyes widened at what Alaude said. "You said Sugihara Mugi."

Alaude tilted his head to the side momentarily to glance at the brunet momentarily. "Did you not pay any attention yesterday, little animal?"

Tsuna shook his head off the thought in his head. He was glad that Alaude was no longer watching him lest he took that as an answer to his question. "I knew you went to meet him but I didn't think that he really does exist."

Alaude just grunted again.

"So we're just going to continue walking until we see the part where the trees start to disperse," Tsuna confirmed more for himself. If Alaude turned around, he would see the disbelief playing on Tsuna's face.

* * *

It took them more than an hour but eventually they did get out of the forest and stepped into the grassland. Tsuna was past worrying about how to get out and was starting to actually focus on what was in front of him. The grasses were tall, the end of the blades reaching his neck but as they moved forward, they were getting lower and lower until the unevenness of the grass alerted Tsuna.

Someone must have been taking care of the place.

Alaude must have come to the same conclusion as Tsuna saw his shoulders tensing. His movement became more careful and his hands kept playing with the handcuff in his pocket if the clinking was any indication. Tsuna could not comprehend what the detective's action could have meant since there was no one to arrest there.

 _No_ , Tsuna reminded himself. There was someone who could get arrested here.

He threw that thought to the back of his head. It simply did not make any sense that this was a plan to lure him out to arrest him. He worked with the detective enough to know that he was not the kind of person who would waste any time so as to plan something complicated like this. The man was not a tactician, favouring to go on the offensive first.

"There's the building," Alaude's low voice announced.

Tsuna turned to look where the man's eyes were glued to and sure enough there was a building there. It was more of a skeleton of a building than an actual one, really. It was extremely clear that the construction workers left it as soon as they were ordered to judging from the lack of windows and doors and other essential things that would make it a building. There was not even a roof.

The cemented bricks were eroded and some parts were covered by thick moss. From where Tsuna was standing, he could see a water tap with a pipe going deep underground in one of the edge of the building but he could bet on the fact that it was not even connected to the town's main water pipe. Tsuna would have had thought that there was no one there if the large washed-out blue tub-like container was not placed so strategically.

He felt Alaude's stare on him commanding him to speak his mind.

Tsuna gulped down his saliva as if that worked in keeping his adrenaline at bay. "There's someone here. That container is there to collect rainwater and the grasses looked too trim to have been totally abandoned." His sight darted around the area. "I don't know about the area on the other side of the building but it looked like whoever was here purposely left the area beyond this lot of land looked unattended."

Alaude hummed as if saying that he was doing better than he thought. He strode towards the building calmly and Tsuna followed suit, unsure if going in head first would be a good idea. He was not sure about Alaude but Tsuna was very much unarmed. As they walked, Tsuna searched for anything that he could use as a weapon if only to keep his fear at bay. Unfortunately for him, the land was unexpectedly clear of leftover tools for an abandoned construction land. He scanned the building once again as they neared the first doorway that they could see. They were unable to see the inside of the building but anyone on higher ground would have the advantage of seeing them from above.

That thought sent shivers to his skin and for the first time since he entered the land, his paranoia trumped out the adrenaline he was feeling. His senses felt sharper to the point that he thought he was imagining every single thing he was feeling. As soon as they were inside, his mind was screaming negative thoughts at him.

Throughout it all, Tsuna's lips were set into a line that was not quite a smile but also not quite a frown. So this was the thrill of an investigation he had been reading a lot about.

They walked up the stairs that looked like it was ready to crumble anytime soon. He saw Alaude pulling his hand out of his pocket but Tsuna would be a fool if he thought that the man was relaxed. His gait showed that he was becoming increasingly focus, the muscles on his upper body pulled tight. Despite all the things that this entailed, Tsuna felt more excited to see the detective in action.

The stairs ended halfway through the set that went up to the second floor so they were forced to stay in the first floor. There was really nothing much to see around the building. There were so many empty spaces that they would be able to see anyone as anyone could have seen them, if the clacking of their shoes were not enough to announce their presence. They had been following the direction of what supposed to be a hallway and until he saw one room with a wooden ladder set almost in the middle of the room. There was a hole above the ladder heading towards the second floor.

Tsuna was about to alert Alaude who just walked out of one of the rooms about it but he let the words stayed inside his mouth when he saw the older male brought his pointer finger to the front of his lips. Alaude then nodded his head up slightly. He did not understand what Alaude's action implied at first but as he glanced at the room, he felt a short wave of relief when Alaude understood exactly what he meant.

Alaude walked into the room first and went straight to the ladder. Tsuna looked around the room once and twice but he noted that there was nothing out of the ordinary. When he looked back at Alaude, he saw the man trying to test if the wooden ladder was sturdy.

On a closer inspection, it looked like the ladder was made by an amateur. Tsuna did not know much about wooden ladders but he knew that the woods used for this were not the kinds that were usually used seeing how weak and unsafe it looked. There were splinters of wood threatening to pierce anyone who was not careful. Otherwise, it looked like any normal ladder with the blocks arranged in a descending order upwards on one side and three pairs of wooden blocks crisscrossed on the other side for support. The two slanted sides were joined together by a thin rope just strong enough to hold them. The rope was pulled in a way that looked calculated than efficient as if to assure the user that it would not broke under the user's weight

Alaude lifted the ladder and bounced it on the floor as soundlessly as he could a couple of times. He stretched the two slanting sides wider. It expanded slightly a bit too much but not enough to make it fall under someone's weight. Hopefully.

Tsuna watched as Alaude climbed up the ladder and patiently waited for his turn. The thundering against his chest was becoming harder to ignore as there was now significant distance separating Alaude and him causing him to become more aware of just how unarmed he actually was.

Tsuna thought that he was just being paranoid at first but as Alaude hastily gestured for him to climb up he knew that it was not just a figment of his imagination. There was a faint clomping sound echoing from wherever and in a rush, Tsuna immediately jumped onto the ladder and climbed as far as he could.

Just as he reached the last step on the ladder, he tried to silently lift himself up without letting out a sound. He heard a string of curses, the sound clearer than the clomping of what sounded like boots. He inwardly cursed himself, thinking that he might have made a sound causing it to echo around the empty spaces alerting whoever else was in the building about their presence there. He finally managed to support himself by grounding his forearm on the cemented floor of the second floor. He used that as a pivot to pull the weight of his other side up. Not long after he was on his knees, panting as silently as he could.

As soon as he caught onto his breath, he looked around for his superior and saw Alaude behind him on his blind spot his gun out in one hand. Tsuna willed himself to stand up to go to Alaude's side but not before taking off his shoes. He would not want to alert the unknown man just in case he had not yet.

The voice was getting closer and the words became clearer. Tsuna was sure now that the person was oblivious that there were other people in the building. From what the guy was mumbling, it simply sounded like he had a bad day out. Tsuna tried not to flinch when heard the sound of the bottom of the ladder hitting the floor twice.

His mind processed that they were currently in another hallway. There was a doorway within a few steps. He quickly calculated the time for him to get to the doorway which was located on the opposite side of the corridor from where Alaude was standing. It took him a second to decide that it would not be good if he stayed with Alaude just in case the guy ran to this direction so as silently as he could, he rushed to the room barefooted.

Tsuna only remembered seeing countless items in the room before he picked up the crowbar lying by his feet. He then crouched down, trying to settle his breathing into an even pattern.

He waited with bated breath as the guy climbed up the ladder. He had counted up to four seconds in his head when Alaude finally lifted his gun up with both arms. It was when he was on the fifth second that his grip on the crowbar tightened.

The first thing that Tsuna saw was silver hair curtaining his face and then it was the dirtied and tattered white t-shirt. After that came the bright orange construction pants and the heavy construction boots. Tsuna could barely process the thought that the weak ladder did not break under their weight.

The man easily worked himself up onto the second floor. Tsuna carefully positioned his head so that the man would not be able to notice him. Both he and Alaude silently watched as the man was about to walk further forward. Tsuna immediately retreated his head. He pressed himself against the wall willing himself to be as invisible as he could. He braved himself to take a peek again when the man suddenly tensed. Then he finally turned his body so that now he was facing Alaude.

" _Merd_ a."

Tsuna did not recognize the language but from the way it was said Tsuna could definitely identify it as a curse word.

The next thing Tsuna knew, the man was running towards where Tsuna was and Alaude was demanding him to stop. The next thing Tsuna knew, he instinctively shoved the arm with the crowbar outside just high enough to make the man trip.

* * *

 **AN: As promised, here's Chapter 6! Okay, that cliffy was not intended. This chapter was got a bit longer than planned so I decided to divide it into two chapters instead. Thanks guys for the reviews, favorites and alerts!**

 **To iKitsuNeko, aww, I hope you're not lost anymore! Please tell me if you need any clarification. I will try to explain without spoiling anything. That thing about the Arcobalenos... That's actually one of the plans I had for the next chapter that I had to push forward.**

 **To Jkhoj, I hope you had fun catching up! Hahaha, well, we'll be seeing Takeshi soon. In a couple more chapters ;)**

 **To Tetsuya Dragneel, there he is, hahaha. Yes, Alaude's expectation is way too high :(**

 **By the way guys, I'll be going on a holiday next weekend so the next chapter might be released a bit late. 'Might be' because it might come out earlier too (on a week day) depending on whether or not I could finish editing it.**

 **Anyway, I would love to read what you guys think about this chapter or/and what you guys think is happening. Please do leave a review on your way out!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I am simply borrowing the characters for this story. This fanfic will be as original as it can be. Similarities with other fanfics are not intended. The story is not related to any real story and similarities are simply coincidence. Reference to real life places are just to set the setting. This is strictly a work of fiction.**

 **Warning: Dark theme and OOC-ness. This fic also contains hints of bendable morals which might not be comfortable for some people.**

* * *

 **Chapter 7**

To be honest, the first thought that came to Tsuna when he got his hands on the crowbar was to use it to hit the man. His panic-induced state led him to think that it was probably better if he knocked the man unconscious to avoid the possibility that the man might have a weapon on him. He had no plans to die on his first ever on-site investigation with Alaude. He did not want to be labelled as being incompetent when his competency was already brought into question during that meeting with Colonello.

It was fortunate that Tsuna had the kind of instinct that overpowered his thoughts that he changed his priority from saving himself to subduing the male which he was sure what Alaude was aiming for.

The man managed to not fall flat on his face. He had pushed out his hands in front of him at the last minute. Tsuna flinched at the sound of his bone cracking, silently hoping that he just broke a wrist or dislocated his shoulder, whichever was less of a loss of an enjoyment for the man.

Tsuna was already up and had a foot out of the doorway when the man was pulled up onto his knees, hissing in anger as Alaude cuffed his wrists together. He stared at the silver hair, at the fire blazing in those green eyes as the man stared hatefully at him.

He recognized him but did not say anything. His thoughts went flat at the sight of the rude guy from the library. He was never the superstitious type but at this moment, he wondered if a string of fate was pulled when he decided to address the man in that library.

Alaude nudged the man up which he grumpily obeyed. The guy's eyes never left him once, his expression as wild as an unfriendly cat. "What the hell?" He spatted. "What the hell are you guys arresting me for?!" he demanded.

Alaude was the one who answered. "We are going to bring you to the station for questioning." At the start of another protest, he reluctantly explained. "We have reasons to suspect you for the body found in Namimori Playground."

Tsuna ignored the one-sided verbal argument that ensued between them as the man sputtered out questions over the validity of his arrest, suddenly aware of the weapon in his hand.

The crowbar looked old but it was obvious that it was well taken care of. There was no evidence of rust on its surface. Tsuna was no expert in tools but he would be stupid to think that it was placed here in the building as an ornament or a contigent. Tools, after all, were usually kept for its uses. Usually, he noted, but the truth of his current location in the middle of the forest was enough to make him push all those other possibilities aside.

He wondered if there was more from where this came from.

What he found back in the room made his heart thrummed with excitement. "There are _things_ scattered here," he announced softly, his voice barely above a whisper.

He felt a presence behind him. He then heard a soft thud. He turned to look at his superior, eyes glancing momentarily and the figure slumping against the wall.

The space between his brows contracted, wary. "Is it okay that you knocked him unconscious?"

Alaude did not shrug but from his tone alone, Tsuna could tell that he could care less. "He tried to obstruct justice." He moved to inspect the weapon closest to him.

"It looks like...he's trying to prepare for a zombie apocalypse or something," Tsuna said, trying to use humor to make light of the situation.

Alaude did not even so much as blink at what he was saying. Tsuna could feel that the atmosphere suddenly got even more tense. Of course Alaude would not appreciate him trying to lighten up the situation.

Tsuna tried not to let it get to him and instead went to the katana set to lean against the wall. He was about to touch the sharp edge of its blade when Alaude grabbed on his wrist. Surprised, he looked at the blonde barely processing the satellite phone in his other hand.

"Don't. We need to leave it as untouched as possible before the forensic team gets here." He let go of Tsuna's hand.

"Is it necessary for them to be deployed?" Tsuna asked, more curious than questioning Alaude's decision. "I mean we suspect this place and all but there's no obvious evidence yet."

"This is evidence enough." Alaude told him. "Have you forgotten what kind of case we're dealing with right now, little animal?"

Tsuna eyed the katana and machete that Alaude was looking at earlier. "You suspect that these were used to cut the meat off the body," his eyes glazed. "I guess you have a point. In some culture, machetes are used as meat cleavers as a part of the house kitchen utensil and the katana's blade is smooth enough to make a perfect cut." Tsuna thought about it. "But Sugihara Miwa's stature is quite small."

Alaude's eyes flashed. "Why do you say that?"

"Because," Tsuna said carefully, "That means that if any weapons here are actually used, my bet is on the katana. Katana is originally designed to cut through enemies. The same goes for the machete but the jagged edge makes it seem like an unlikely possibility but a possibility nevertheless. Cleavers are often used to cut tough meats. Considering her size, a machete will break her bones and yet they still remain smooth and in tact."

"You studied about weapons," Alaude pointed out bluntly. "What for?"

"Some books get overly detailed about how murderers kill their victim and I can't help but be curious sometimes. I want to have a clear vision of how it is done."

Alaude nodded in approval but said nothing more.

Tsuna did not realize that he was holding his breath until Alaude averted his gaze to make the call.

* * *

It was about fifteen minutes later that the forensic team arrived. Tsuna kept himself to the side as Alaude instructed the team to pick up the silver-haired man to be brought to the station immediately.

They also found out that there was a more easy way to get to the building; a more muddy but more used path leading to and from the graveyard, hidden just between the trees. The trees on that side of the forest had a marking of an arrow on them carved deep enough to make it visible but light enough for someone to be within a metre distance from it to be able to see it.

The discovery of these two paths confirmed how the criminal transferred from the corpse from Namimori Park to Namimori Playground.

* * *

"So let me confirm again," Lampo started, staring straight at the teenager in front of him. "You're here," he said slowly, simultaneously trying to make sense of things, "To bail out your friend who the patrol found in the car that was reported stolen just hours ago." He eyed the red head watching him like a hawk from the hallway near the offices.

"Yes," she answered honestly. "I don't think she stole the car," she defended. "It's her college boyfriend's and I'm sure he lent it to her."

"Thank you for that bit of information. Now we can assume that the boyfriend potentially stole the car and gave it to her to use. Not only that but this friend of yours was found to be driving under influence. So we cannot entertain you right now." Lampo said, instantly dismissing her in that very sentence.

"That's not right!" The girl argued. "I'm sure that this is a mistake. She could be a victim in this. She's not that kind of girl."

"Every one isn't really as they are," Lampo replied lazily. "Now, we'll have to question her more about the stolen car. Please understand that it is only her who knows about the whereabout of this boyfriend of hers." He immediately stood up when he saw a handcuffed young man being led into the station. From the corner of his eyes, he saw G went towards the officer who brought the guy in. Lampo eyed the girl. "I suggest for you to go home for now and come back again tomorrow, Miss."

* * *

It was about two hours after the silver haired man was brought to the station that Alaude finally arrived. The detective did not even bother greeting G who was standing behind the tinted glass intently watching the silver haired man who was glaring at the table in front of him. He heard the door click shut and immediately the man glared at Alaude who looked as impassive as ever.

"We seem to have a rebel in our hands here," Giotto commented, suddenly appearing beside G.

G did not give him any reply but instead asked, "Where did you bring the girl?"

"Someone from your team brought her to the holding cell," Giotto replied.

"I was hoping that Alaude will stop using the members of my team now that he has his own slave to command to his wishes," G said drily.

"Right, you have yet to see Tsunayoshi," Giotto noted. "Such a shame that you missed him again. Alaude really likes the kid."

"Sounds like the brat pulled out the short straw," G commented drily.

They would have continued their conversation until Alaude's voice was heard from the speaker.

"Name," he demanded curtly.

Giotto and G's attention was immediately caught. The questionings were starting.

"Why the hell would I give my name to you? Asshole." The brat had guts to be talking like that to someone as intimidating as Alaude.

"Name," Alaude demanded again. An edge that was not there before appeared in his voice. "Give me your name if you want this to proceed smoothly."

The man glare hardened. "If _you_ want this to proceed smoothly, you mean?"

Alaude's brow twitched in annoyance. "I made no mistake in my wording. Name."

"Gokudera Hayato," the silver-haired male gritted out.

"Good," Alaude commented, causing the man to bristle at being complimented like a dog.

G saw Giotto shaking his head in pity at the boy. After years of working with Alaude, they both knew what it meant for Alaude to bring someone to this room. Alaude was a very peculiar man, only willing to heartlessly pursue people who he really suspected to be related to the case. The man's techniques knew no bounds whenever he set his target on someone. Anyone questioned outside this room could consider themselves lucky.

"Gokudera Hayato. I will repeat what you already know for formality purposes," Alaude started, his tone bored. The first few times Alaude did a questioning without stating his reasoning, he almost got into trouble for causing distress to the suspect. Alaude was a man who could care less about his reputation going down the drain as long as he did his job excellently. He did not know exactly what Giotto did but after that one time when they were almost filed a lawsuit by one unfortunate innocent suspect, Alaude suddenly followed the questioning procedure. "You are currently a suspect of our ongoing investigation regarding the death of Sugihara Miwa. The victim was found buried in Namimori Playground just last week and we have reasons to believe that the body is moved from Namimori Park to Namimori Playground. Since there is no other route in which the criminal would remain inconspicuous throughout the event, finding you there in the middle of the possible route, you are our only prime suspect."

Gokudera growled. "That damn cannibalism case? Do I look like I eat human meat for fun to you?" He pointed down at his skinny figure. G mentally nodded in agreement but Alaude was not swayed.

"That's what I want you to tell me. Your lack of documentations," Alaude threw a thin file towards Gokudera, "Led me to conclude that you are not registered here in Namimori. You came here from Italy years ago with your guardian, a man by the name of Shamal." Gokudera's glare suddenly dissipated into a careful mask as soon as his surprise at Alaude's discovery settled in, the only indication of his initial anger was his deep intake of breath. Alaude's icy stare sharpened. "That fact aside, you own tools that can be used as weapons. It is only a matter of time until the forensic team get back to me about them. Tell me about the katana."

A flash of something appeared in Gokudera's green eyes.

Alaude's lips twitched. At the way the suspect was slowly losing colours, G could already imagine the sadistic gleam in Alaude's stare right now.

"This is weird," G commented in a low voice. "Is Alaude getting soft? He's not threatening to cut his fingers off yet."

Giotto chuckled softly.

"You don't own the katana. You don't have the basic requirements for it," Alaude pointed out. "You simply don't exist in the town. That's why you went for a job that requires no such documentations."

"Are you threatening to report me?" Gokudera asked in disbelief.

"I'll consider not to if you tell me about the katana."

"I don't know anything about it," Gokudera hissed.

"That katana is yours."

"It isn't mine," Gokudera retorted harshly. "I found it."

"So you stole it."

The suggestion in that word alone threw Gokudera into a panic so he shouted in reply. "Fucking hell? Stop twisting my words."

"Tell me then."

"I found it. I fucking found it lying in the forest." He turned his head downwards and G suddenly realized how much he was trembling. "Fuck. I shouldn't have picked it up."

"Why did you not report it if it's not yours?"

He glared at Alaude again. "What if I did?" The hateful look in his eyes did not lessen. "What if I went and reported the katana? Wouldn't you lock me up the same?"

"You'll be needed to give details," Alaude answered. "Perhaps, there's a detail that you don't want to share."

"I've told you. There's no way I did it."

"I want to know about the katana," Alaude insisted.

"I've fucking told you all I know, damn it!"

"You're telling me all that you're sure of, not including all that you're thinking about it." The man stopped stared wide eyed at Alaude. "There's something you're not telling and you'll do so soon."

G was brought out of his concentration when he heard Giotto muttered Daemon's name into his phone. He saw the instruction in Giotto's eyes so he tapped on the tinted window.

* * *

"I suggest you put the questioning on hold until we get a more concrete information," Giotto told Alaude who was glowering at him for interupting his work. "What you're doing now is accusing the poor kid. I've confirmed with Daemon that there's no clear basis on your suspicions other than the fact that the kid is living there in the abandoned building. As far as I'm concerned, it's okay for him to live there as long as he's not doing anything wrong."

"He lives there. That should be reason enough."

Giotto exhaled, frustrated. "We've talked about this, Alaude. Just because he was there when you were there doesn't mean he could be the culprit. Was he even there at the time of the crime?"

Alaude's expression said that he intended to get that information out so Giotto continued. "Alaude. We don't have the time of when it happened. What we have is speculations at best."

G stared at him flatly. "Is there a reason why you're rushing to get it out from him, Alaude? Giotto told me that you were supposed to just go to see Sugihara Mugi."

"Ahh. Why don't we start with that? My hunch is telling me that whatever it is with you right now has something to do with that."

Alaude growled. "I have no time to waste."

"So do we," Giotto retorted. "If this ever got out to headquarters, they'll have _us_ forquestioning. Especially if words get out that we're detaining an innocent person for questioning."

Alaude glared once more before he reluctantly let his tongue loose. "Sugihara Mugi existed. The building existed too."

"Is that what makes you act this way?" G asked angrily. "Because your theory was fucking crushed just like that?"

Giotto stopped G before an argument broke out between the two. "Alaude," Giotto warned at the seething gaze. "What is it?"

Alaude turned his attention fully on Giotto.

Giotto understood the silent message. A sigh of disappointment escaped him. "Alright then. I trust you, Alaude, and I trust whatever direction you're taking the investigation to is for a certain aim but I would like it that you'll let the lad go for now." At the protest he saw building on Alaude's mouth, he continued. "I also understand that he hasn't proven himself innocent due to whatever your mind is conjuring right now. I also understand that he doesn't have a permanent address or any other details that can help us find him if we find a more incriminating evidence. Therefore, I'll let you lock him up in the holding cell. Then," he stressed, "After you let the kid rest a bit and calm his mind, you can go and continue your investigation." He averted his attention to G. "We can let the girl go if she already give us a name."

G nodded. "I'll make sure of it later."

"What girl?" Alaude demanded.

Giotto looked solemnly at him. "You already had your hands full with all these murder cases so I give some of the simple cases to G and Lampo to handle since they pretty much have nothing to do right now."

Alaude said nothing but his lack of argument did not put Giotto at ease. Instead, it unsettled him. Alaude was distracted and Alaude was never distracted.

* * *

Alaude demanded that Tsuna was not to return to the station. He dismissed Tsuna telling him that he was to go to the town council to collect his first salary but Tsuna knew that this was to avoid Giotto finding out that he brought Tsuna to accompany him on something that Tsuna was not supposed to do.

It was a blessing in disguise that he would not be seeing Giotto for the remainder of the day. He had nothing against the man but it was difficult to get along with the man. Tsuna was not an idiot. He saw the walls that Giotto deliberately built between them. The man was kind, Tsuna could not deny that, but he was also very strict especially in relation to information that could get to Tsuna's hands. Tsuna understood his action to some extent. From what Tsuna could grasp from the past few days, there was some kind of a bad blood between the Arcobaleno and them. Tsuna was aware of the fact of the nature of the position he was in was which made Giotto put his guards up around him. Tsuna was literally employed by the Arcobaleno considering that they would be the one handling his remuneration but at the same time, he was paid for an internship in the police station. He might as well be a spy for the Arcobaleno so he could not really blame Giotto.

Like any other person, Tsuna was happy to finally be receiving his salary. More than that, he wished that he would not be meeting Reborn anytime soon or ever again. His first meeting with the man was enough to alert him that the man was as manipulative as a wolf and it would be in Tsuna's better interest to avoid the man as much as he could.

However, the possibility of this happening was low considering that this was where the man was working. Tsuna considered it luck that he had not seen the man when he was here with Alaude. He could not expect luck to help him twice.

There was also that thing that he found out earlier that day.

As he did expect though, he was directed towards an office, the one right beside Colonello's. He did not even blink when he saw the familiar yellow striped fedora sitting on top of the desk. The distinctive curly sideburns were too branded into Tsuna's mind for him not to remember the man. Tsuna smiled tensely.

A smirk. "Dame-Tsuna. Nice to finally see you again." It could have just been his imagination but Tsuna could hear something underlying his tone. "You're here to collect your salary. I'll just have to print your slip and hand you over the money." A wicked grin appeared. "But that's no fun. I'm sure you have something to ask."

Tsuna made himself walk towards the empty seat and sit on it without waiting for an invitation. He forced himself to look at the man straight in the eyes. "I'm here to just pick up my salary."

"You know," Reborn started knowingly, his confidence wavered not even once. "It's not good to hold your stress in." He picked up the paper from the printer tray and started to write on it. "They say that can make you go crazy."

"I don't know what you're saying," Tsuna offered a confused smile.

"I'll help you," Reborn said without lifting his gaze up from the paper. "Let's start from the burial registration filed by Sugihara Mugi."

Tsuna's smile dropped. "What about it?"

"I didn't know you were this stupid, Baka-Tsuna." A glance. "Surely, you know about Sugihara Miwa." Tsuna tensed. "That's right. Sorry about the body."

Tsuna felt his heart knocking against his ribcage. He had often thought during his first few kills about how he would be found out but often the scenario involved an innocent bystander who he then had to silence by doing the same thing. Never had he imagined a scene involving one of the most important figureheads of the town.

Tsuna could only swallow down his saliva and set his feet right down on the ground. There was no way that the man knew. He followed the man's hand as he counted the money for Tsuna's salary. There was no way that the man knew and not had him arrested.

A knowing look was directed at him. "I do," he confirmed as if he could read Tsuna's mind. "I know. "

If Tsuna had been thinking straight, he would not have blurted it out so easily. He had wanted to ask the Arcobaleno, any of them, about it in the first place but not without a concrete plan. Reborn could have admitted that out of spite, not to anything specific. But there was one existing glaring fact that he could not find some sense in from the very time that Alaude said his name. Tsuna almost did not recognize his voice when he managed to say, "Sugihara Mugi doesn't exist."

"I went to his place this morning," Tsuna kept on blurting. "I had a man pointed me there to his address. He asked if I was interested in renting the place; that the place had been abandoned for years."

"He might be living there illegally."

"Stop teasing the brat, Reborn, kora," the door behind Tsuna clicked shut. Colonello pulled a chair from beside Tsuna to the side of the desk. He placed it in reversed so that he could fold his arms on top of the backrest. "We've been waiting for him for weeks."

Tsuna felt everything clicked into place at the appearance of the second Arcobaleno. "You expected me to find out from the start," he looked pointedly at Reborn. "You guys wanted me to find out from the start. That this Sugihara Mugi person doesn't exist. That you were the one who forged those documents."

"That's right, kora."

"For what?"

Colonello sent an amused glance to Reborn. "This brat caught on things fast than Skull ever did."

Reborn smirked. "That's why he's the best choice."

Colonello laughed heartily. "Nothing escapes your sight, is there?"

Tsuna slowly felt his anger processing at being played like this. "It would be stupid to think that you guys are not gaining anything from hiding my tracks. There must be something that you want from me."

"More conceited than that idiot Skull too, kora," Colonello noted with a laughter in his voice.

Tsuna frowned.

Reborn chuckled. "Of course he's right," he said, deliberately taunting Tsuna by addressing him in third person. "When have we ever do things without expecting things in return?"

Tsuna glared.

"Let's just get this over with." Reborn started, finally turning his full attention on Tsuna. His lips curved into a smirk but his eyes were full of promises of threats. "There's a reason why I want you to be in the police station." His smirk was gone. Even Colonello had a serious expression on his face. "In fact, I want you to do something important for us."

Tsuna kept silent.

"There's a case they're currently keeping quiet about, kora. I'm sure you've heard about the four serial murders." He met Tsuna's stare and just went on without confirming if Tsuna did. "Long story short, there are six more similar murders. And yet they never announce them in the media, kora."

Tsuna just continued staring.

Colonello chuckled. "Reborn, this brat doesn't even react, kora."

Reborn nodded in approval. "We know it's not you. If we did, we won't even let you do this for us." At Tsuna's continuing silence, he elaborated. "You do this and then we won't report you."

Tsuna forced a smile on his face. "Report me for what?"

Colonello guffawed. "I like you, brat. But really, you're treading on dangerous zone right now, kora, as I'm sure you've realized."

"I don't get it. Why do you guys even bother hiding my track in the first place?" Colonello gave a quick look at Reborn at this. "Who's to say that you won't suddenly decide to tattle on me?"

"Tempting," Reborn considered, "But not now. Right now, you have an important role, Dame-Tsuna."

Tsuna realized that he did not even answer his question.

"What if I don't want to?" Tsuna countered.

"Like I said, _tempting._ " Reborn smiled darkly.

"Let's be real right here, Tsuna, kora." Colonello said, halting Tsuna's reply. "It's not like you'll let yourself be arrested that easily."

"How can you be so sure?"

"It's not your style, kora," Colonello grinned wickedly. "You're a survivor," he said with a knowing glint in his eyes. "You're considering this," he stated confidently. "If you're not, you'll already be spouting about reporting us."

"That's an idea," Tsuna mocked. "I'm not an idiot. I know no one is going to believe me."

"Despite our bad relation with the superior policemen?" Reborn asked, amused.

"Despite that," Tsuna confirmed confidently. "If I have to say it, you guys have a better relationship with the citizens than they do." Tsuna eyed both of them. "Why me?"

Reborn smiled full of meanings. "I wonder."

Tsuna was not satisfied with his answer. "And that Sugihara Mugi guy?"

"An actor," Colonello was the one who replied. "So you're in, kora."

"Like I even have any choice," Tsuna said with a resigned scowl.

* * *

 **AN: First of all, I would like to apologize that I did not manage to upload this chapter last week. Life had been hectic these two weeks and I'm surprised I even finished this now, lol.**

 **I can't thank you guys enough for following this fanfic. Seriously.**

 **And I don't know if there's any Safe Haven readers here but I've finally started working on the drafting of the chapters so please look forward to it sometime soon!**

 **Anyway, I have to rush out now. I hope you guys enjoy this chapter!**

 **Do let me know on your out by filling in that review window down there!**

 **(PS: Did anyone else receive e-mail notifications of old reviews?)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own Katekyo Hitman Reborn. I am simply borrowing the characters for this story. This fanfic will be as original as it can be. Similarities with other fanfics are not intended. The story is not related to any real story and similarities are simply coincidence. Reference to real life places are just to set the setting. This is strictly a work of fiction.**

 **Warning: Dark theme and OOC-ness. This fic also contains hints of bendable morals which might not be comfortable for some people.**

* * *

 _"I don't think this is a good idea, otou-san." Tsuna admitted out loud as he watched his father pushed the shovel deeper into the ground with his leg. He played with the loose thread at the end of his right sleeve as he pondered on the things that could go wrong with what they were doing._

 _"Tsu-kun," his father sounded exasperated but Tsuna did not pay that any heed. Instead, he busied himself pushing down the memories flowing into his mind with that nickname. "Tsunayoshi," Iemitsu corrected himself, thankful to see semblance of sanity appearing back in his son's eyes. "None of these are a good idea. With all the bad things we've been doing, we need to do an ounce of good to balance them out sometimes."_

 _"I still don't think this is a good idea." Tsuna tapped his foot before he stood up. "I like Miwa-chan a lot. More than I like the others. I like how she tries to understand what I'm doing instead of going to an empty shell like the others did. But I don't think she deserves to be buried next to Okaa-san. "A sorrowful smile took shape onto his lips."You've been good, otou-san. I was the one who dragged you into this."_

 _Iemitsu pointedly ignored the last part. He grunted as he pushed the shovel onto a particular stubborn part of the ground._

 _Tsuna sighed. "Told you we need two." His expression brightened. "Or better yet, we throw her body somewhere and let nature do their thing like usual."_

 _"The poor girl requested to be buried at her home. We said yes. But now that we can't, we should at least honour our promise and give her a proper burial."_

 _Tsuna sat back down on the stool that Iemitsu brought there for him. "This reeks of bad ideas." He brought his palms to his face and covered his face while letting out a stressed sigh. "I know that you bought the lots around here but I'm - ," he supported his head in between his hands, "I'm concerned."_

 _"No one's around, Tsunayoshi." Iemitsu gestured around while laughing carelessly. "It's private around here and I've personally put in a request with the Council that no one is to set a foot here."_

 _Tsuna gaped at him in disbelief. "And no one questioned you?"_

 _Iemitsu gave him a meaningful look. "You think that anyone would ask anything after what happened?"_

 _Tsuna's pupil dilated in shock before he blinked and laughed humourlessly. "That's uncalled for."_

 _"You need to get over it, Tsunayoshi. No one is going to find out."_

 _Tsuna did not smile this time as he watched his father continue digging. It was a few minutes after that that he finally said in a small voice. "I hope so."_

* * *

Tsuna blinked into focus as the memory flowed into his mind. A sour look appeared on his face as he remembered that he was never on board with the idea. He could not remember what made him so easily defeated by his father's reasoning.

With the sudden revelation of the Arcobalenos - two of them, at least - being in the know of his secrets, Tsuna questioned how discreet he actually was being. It had been years since he started what he did and yet, all those while he thought that he was doing well with hiding things in plain sight. He should have continued with how he had been doing things and not listen to his father's preaching about how doing good things could outweigh or balance out whatever bad things he did.

He had been doing well the years before that. Burying Sugihara Miwa the normal way had been a mistake. A mistake that now put him in danger zone.

Why the Arcobalenos did not immediately report him to the authorities was beyond him.

He stared at the money-filled envelope on the table with a frown as his mind tried to logically process the information the Arcobalenos fed him earlier. He gathered that their reasons for paying him was not to fund him as he interned for the station but to employ him to find out about the six murders that were never told to the public.

Tsuna frowned in thought as he wondered about how the Arcobalenos found out about the other undisclosed murders in the first place but considering who the Arcobalenos were before they became the political figurehead of the town, he knew that they have their ways. From the titbits he had seen, the Arcobalenos were not on a friendly term with Giotto and the others. It might be a clash of personalities but Tsuna could not shove the thought that something must have happened to the back of his head.

Still, it did not make sense why they chose him of all people to find out about whatever Giotto and the others were hiding. He might be competent in terms of his academic application but his own background could immediately rule that out.

Tsuna knew that what he did was wrong. He knew that it was only a matter of time that he was found out. He knew that when someone did find out, he would be brought before the law for his punishment. Tsuna was always ready for that but not for this.

"If you don't want that, I do," a voice broke into his musings.

Tsuna barely reacted at first but when he saw the state that Mukuro was in, he stood up so abruptly that the chair was pushed backwards with a loud screech. "Shit."

"I know, kufufu," Mukuro replied, his heterochromatic eyes showing none of the amusement that he had in his voice. "Just to assure you, the blood is all on my shirt. I'm not trailing any of it on my way back so no need to worry about some patrol suddenly knocking at your door."

"Tell me that's not yours." Tsuna sat on the edge of his chair as he felt his breathing got heavier.

Mukuro raised an eyebrow at Tsuna's reaction as he took a seat. "I can't see how that is any better," he joked. "But you're right. This isn't mine."

Tsuna forced down the apology forming in his throat and instead force a smile on his face. "Good."

"That's a very anticlimatic response," Mukuro mused.

"Touché." Tsuna replied half-heartedly before nodding at the envelope and pulled his chair forward so he could sit more comfortably. "I've just found out that the Arcobalenos know that I killed Sugihara Miwa. They seem to be using this as an opportunity to broadcast that fact to me only so that they can rope me into investigating the dark secrets of the police force for them and that's keeping it lightly."

Mukuro nodded at his blood covered garment and followed Tsuna's pace, treating it as one of those rare moments when they opened up their truths and laid them down for each other to see. "I had one of my episodes and might or might have not killed that guy who was there at a bad time and that's putting it lightly."

A tense silence covered them for a full minute before Tsuna chuckled humorlessly. "Seems like this time I'm the one in the worse situation."

"Kufufu, you've never had a demon whispering down your ears," Mukuro retorted. "But I do agree. Your situation is worse than usual."

Tsuna did not bother arguing against that knowing full well how defensive Mukuro could be when talking about his demons.

"Looking at the bright side, it seems like I won't be brought to jail anytime soon." Tsuna said instead but his eyes betrayed his words as they strayed to set on the envelope. "How did you cope with them?"

"With the things that are fucking up my life?"

Tsuna shook his head in affirmation.

"I prove to them that while they did fuck my life, they didn't fuck me up."

Tsuna could not help but smile. "And I thought I'm the philosophical one."

Mukuro gave a little smile, contrary to his usual teasing nature. "I have my moments."

This time, Tsuna let his teeth show but whatever response he had to Mukuro's statement was interrupted by his phone ringing. He glanced at the screen of his phone, surprised to see Yamamoto's name flashing on his screen.

Mukuro took a quick peek at the screen and could not resist a remark. "Look who finally knows how to use his phone."

"I take offense to that," Tsuna retorted, snatching the phone away from Mukuro's peering eyes but he did nothing more other than turned the phone around so that it was now lying face down. "After all, phone calls work both ways."

"Not going to pick that up?"

"After everything that happened to me in the span of a day?" Tsuna chuckled drily. "Call me superstitious. I'll call him back tomorrow morning or," he glanced at the wall clock, "maybe once midnight strikes."

Mukuro shrugged nonchalantly and went on to the cupboard to pull out a can of cookies. "Today might be going to be over soon but who's to say that tomorrow will be better than today."

"Did someone see you or something?" Tsuna said pointedly.

"Just saying, Tsunayoshi-kun."

"Yeah? I don't think this new philosophical self of yours suit you."

Mukuro grinned, "Kufufu. I beg to differ. Since you're so rattled by it, I would say that it suits me very well." He bit on the cookie in his hand.

"Right." Tsuna's phone rang again. He turned it around and turned pale at whatever was flashing on the screen. He immediately stood up and went to excuse himself.

Mukuro just watched him curiously.

* * *

Tsuna found himself rushing to the front door as soon as he heard what Alaude had to say in his call. It was surprising enough that Alaude called him but when he said that he was at the front of his house, Tsuna all but zoomed from the middle of the stairs where he was seeking his privacy from Mukuro.

As soon as the door was open, Tsuna indiscreetly took a look around just in case Mukuro was only telling him that he was not trailing blood for Tsuna's peace of mind. At the tell-tale of the long tailcoat peeking from his gate, Tsuna had half a mind to thank his luck that Alaude had his back to him or else he would see Tsuna's distraught self. He would not put it beyond the man that he would not ask Tsuna on his action.

"Alaude-san," Tsuna greeted, pulling the door close. "Hey," he started, not knowing what else to say as he opened the gate.

Alaude turned towards Tsuna but made no further move. His piercing stare immediately unnerved Tsuna. Tsuna's was already paranoid enough but Alaude's presence was making him question his slowly darkening future.

His hackles rose when Alaude's nose twitched. His ice blue eyes flickered to the front door for a split second before he turned back his attention to Tsuna. He gestured for Tsuna to follow him to which the brunet cautiously consented.

Tsuna'a hand twitch, his mind conjuring up every possible thing that Alaude could possibly have in mind.

"You will talk to Gokudera Hayato."

Tsuna's mind suddenly cleared at that statement. He looked up to the back of the taller man's head in surprise. "Me?"

Alaude went to the police car parked just outside his house and he wondered instead if this was a ruse to trap him.

At the obvious sign of his supervisor ignoring him, he tried again. "Why me? That guy seems to hate me."

"Exactly because of that," Alaude said, entering the car. Tsuna tried to calmly enter the passenger side. "What do you think of him?"

"Temperamental," Tsuna automatically replied snidely. His eyes widened slightly at his obvious change of character but Alaude did not seem to pay any heed to it. Tsuna covered himself up by saying, "I mean I don't know the guy but I've met him before and he was quite rude."

There was no change in the Alaude's expression even as he started the ignition and drove out of his neighbourhood.

It had only been a few weeks since he was working with Alaude and he knew that the man was naturally a quiet person. Through time, Tsuna became more proficient in translating his silence and this time Tsuna's senses were telling him that his silence was meant for Tsuna to further elaborate.

Tsuna did not and he fought back a wince at the obvious disappointment Alaude emitted.

* * *

Tsuna should not be so surprised that the police station was almost empty save for the young looking police officer who usually manned the reception table when Lampo was not in. There was not a hint of the other senior officers or any other officers. Then again, who needed extra security when Alaude was in?

The state the station was in was enough to inform Tsuna that no one else knew of Alaude's plan to allow him to do the questioning and judging from the way the young man attempted so hard not to cast a look at them when they entered while fidgeting in his seat told Tsuna that he needed not to worry about anyone ratting them out either. If this ever reached Giotto, he knew that Giotto would immediately reprimand him knowing how futile it would be if he confronted his stubborn fellow officer.

Tsuna tried to not look unsure when Alaude literally ushered him into the questioning room. "Gokudera Hayato" was the only thing that Alaude said to him before he heard the door closed behind him and felt more than saw the green-eyed glare focussed on him

Tsuna was not rattled. Not at all. To prove it to the other man, he gave him a neutral smile. He pulled back the chair and sat on it with a false calm. His mind was a jumble of questions, none of them answering his main question of what the heck he should first ask the silver-haired man.

Deciding to instead start with a little talk, he began. "I hope you had a good stay so far."

Gokudera looked at him in disbelief. If Tsuna was being honest with himself, he would admit that that was not the first sentence he expected to come out of his mouth.

"Okay, I won't beat around the bush," Tsuna decided. "Gokudera Hayato," he dragged on, deciphering those words as the man's name, as he saw the familiar scowl forming on Gokudera's lips. "I remember you. You go to Namimori University, don't you?"

Gokudera growled.

"Should I take that as a yes?" Tsuna asked, dry humor filling his words.

He did not expect Gokudera to reply. "No. Don't fucking play with me. You should already know by now that I can't possibly enrol into that damn University."

Tsuna willed his line of sight to not stray towards where he thought Alaude was standing behind the one-way mirrored glass. He cursed internally for not asking earlier about how the previous session had gone. What exactly was Gokudera talking about?

Instead, he made a smirk appear on his face. "Oh?" He baited.

Gokudera was immediately rattled. "Are you looking down at me, Sawada Tsunayoshi?"

Tsuna was honestly confused even as he calmly folded his arms on the table while leaning forward. He lowered down his voice as he said, "Just between us, Gokudera-kun. I do not think that you did it."

The brunet leaned back, drinking in the flabbergasted look on Gokudera's face. Tsuna was not sure how the man would take it but as far as Tsuna was concerned, he believed that honesty was the best policy.

Tsuna liked to think that he knew a fellow sinner after talking to them. It happened on more than two counts already when he was talking to Mukuro and Kyoya.

 _Kyoya_. He wondered where the guy disappeared off to.

Talking to Gokudera felt like talking to Yamamoto. Normal.

He saw the shock slowly evaporated away from Gokudera's expression and he took that as his cue to continue.

"Now tell me what – "

"You know exactly what the fuck happened," Gokudera cut him off but Tsuna could not help but noticed that the bite behind his words were missing.

Tsuna shook his head. "I want to hear it from _you_ who actually experienced it. I don't want my subjective interpretation to give another meaning to what actually happened and turn the fact into fiction."

Tsuna mentally applauded himself at the words that left his mouth as soon as he saw their impact on the silver-haired man.

"I don't need the irrelevant details," Tsuna elaborated, pinpointing the part where Gokudera should begin. "Start with the weapons. Where did you get them?"

Gokudera immediately snapped out of the reverie that Tsuna's earlier words put him in.

He growled. "You still think-"

"Tell me. And I'll let you know what I think."

Gokudera's green eyes flashes causing Tsuna to smile in amusement. This guy was more transparent than he made himself to be.

"Alright. I'll concede. I'll let you know what I think. I think there's something you're not telling me. I think there's a story behind each of those weapons; the crowbar, the machete, the katana..."

Tsuna saw Gokudera losing his composure as he mentioned the weapons. Briefly, he wondered if his instincts were right for saying that Gokudera was innocent. It seemed to fail him lately, a fact that Tsuna could not ignore at the moment.

Deciding not to beat around the bush, Tsuna pushed. "You seem to have something to say about the katana."

There was something in Gokudera's eyes that disappeared as soon as it appeared. His lips pulled back but he did not let his snarl loose.

Tsuna's heart beat fast, the ominous sound of a coin being thrown into a deep forgotten well sounded in his head as the pure hatred in Gokudera's eyes dragged forth a memory that he had long pushed and locked in his personal Pandora box.

' _Why do you hate me so much?'_ a voice that sounded so much like a younger version of him sounded in his head.

Tsuna quickly pushed back the voice. When his mind joined back the real world, he did not understand the shock on Gokudera's face which the other man slowly schooled back into a neutral expression.

"I have told this to the other officer about this." Tsuna did not understand the sudden change in temperament but Tsuna's sharp senses caught the slight shake in Gokudera's voice. Was he attempting to control his anger? "I found the katana lying on the forest near the building where you found me and took it. I don't know whose it was and when I saw it, it was clean so I thought that it was simply forgotten and took it."

"You saw that it was clean so you assumed that it was forgotten and took it?" Tsuna repeated.

But that sent the wrong message to Gokudera. "Fuck," Gokudera seemed to find himself back again. "No matter how many times I say it, you people wouldn't fucking believe me. You policemen only want to listen to what you want to fucking hear."

Tsuna debated replying that he was not a policeman but decided against it. Instead, he deciphered what Gokudera had been saying. Tsuna listed down the various interpretations that his mind could conjure up but the most distinguished of all was that he might have been repeating the same thing that he had already told Alaude.

Immediately, Tsuna realized exactly why Alaude let him question Gokudera. He excused himself from the room, not caring about the glare that he was receiving, and saw that Alaude was no longer standing behind the tinted window.

If his thoughts were right, Alaude wanted to see if Gokudera would be saying the same thing he had been saying during the first investigation. He did not know from when Alaude had left but when he went into the office, the normally impassive man was going through the files looking frustrated.

"You knew he's not our man," Tsuna suggested quietly.

Alaude did not look up.

"What were the tell tales?" Tsuna inquired, unsure if he should stand more closely to the male.

Tsuna did not expect that Alaude would reply him and he was right not to. The other man just remained quiet and tight lipped but Tsuna refused to surrender to the man's stubbornness.

"I think that Gokudera Hayato was being set up as a scapegoat." Alaude grabbed another file. "I find it weird when he mentioned that the katana was clean."

Alaude finally looked up.

Tsuna was taken aback by the cold rage in the man's eyes. "He's not the scapegoat, little animal. We are."

Tsuna blinked but brushed the statement off. "Anyhow, don't we need to at least wait for the forensic findings? We can't exactly just rule out that the katana may not be an important piece for this investigation."

He said that but not even an ounce of him believed it.

"The Arcobaleno purposefully led us to this."

Tsuna tensed.

"They led us to do their dirty work."

Tsuna caught the silent _'again'_ in Alaude's words. "This…happened before?"

Alaude did not need to confirm. Tsuna could already tell that it did.

* * *

 _A few hours ago_

Admittedly, it was his fault for hitting the ball too far into the forest. Knowing that, he volunteered to pick up the ball himself, ignoring the mocking look one of the recruiting team's members gave him with a nonchalant laugh.

He applied to the team out of the blue after the number of times he got refused. He did not really expect to get a call so he was surprised when he received a call from the manager informing him that they would be holding the selection process here in Namimori.

Growing up playing baseball in Namimori with the aim to be a professional baseball player had always been a challenge for him. Namimori was a small town surrounded by many of the major cities, often overlooked by many civilians. Almost no one remembered that the tiny town existed save for the people who originated from here or had some relatives here. The exposure that the town had was almost non-existent.

He barely had any trouble finding the deviant ball, fully familiar with his strength and the distance that it would fly depending on it. Not to mention that this was not the first time that this happened. He could not count how many times he had entered this forest for the very same reason. As expected, he found the ball where he predicted it would be.

However, he did not expect the sudden rustle as whatever was ahead was getting closer. ' _Hide_ ,' his mental voice was screaming at him as fear crept up his bones as the sound was getting more and more clear. He really had no chance to run. Whatever that was, it seemed to be moving towards his direction. Not thinking clearly, he rushed towards the biggest tree that he found and hid behind it with his hands clamped shut over his mouth just as something went by the area. Twice.

He had heard of the story from his father of an animal that resided in this jungle who would only appear to hunt on this side once in a while. He had shrugged the story off. He had never encountered any kind of animal the number of times he had been here.

But now he was regretting that.

He closed his eyes shut and repeated a mantra in his head praying for his safety, his hands shaking.

Suddenly, the rustling stopped and what sounded like a scream was immediately silenced by an inhuman growl. He tensed, realizing only then that the steps sounded more human than animal. The thought did not do anything to blow his fear away as a thud resounded. He opened his watery eyes as he heard something seemed to be dragged back. His saliva gathered in his mouth but could not gather the courage to gulp them down, fearing that he would be dragged into whatever was happening.

He heard them again, going past his area. This time, he braved himself to sneak a look and it took a lot of his willpower to not just vomit at the sight of a man's body being dragged by another male by the hair, leaving a thick trail of blood.

He immediately looked away and pushed himself against the tree as close as possible, willing himself to blend into it. His legs were shaking too much that he dropped to the forest floor, hoping that he was not announcing his presence to the other.

He waited until his shaking calmed enough to allow him to move. It felt like more than an hour had passed before he was able to go back to the baseball field.

He managed to display his usual cheerful façade as he greeted the others, his hand slightly shaking as he announced to them that he found the ball and proceeded with the other selection tests.

As soon as he got home, he immediately ran up to his room, ignoring his father's and their restaurant's frequent goers' greetings. With his mind still all over the place, he immediately pulled out his phone and called his best friend by force of habit.

But Tsuna did not pick up.

* * *

 **AN: Wow, I haven't been updating since May. But here's Chapter 8! Finally! Thank you for the reviews, favorites and follows, guys! I really do appreciate it. Sorry for not updating any sooner. I have been so caught up with life and it seems like it's not ending just yet but hopefully I can write bit by bit and upload the next chapter hopefully within this a week.**

 **Anyway, please do leave me a review on your way out!**


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